Golden Sun: The Full Tale
by Terran34
Summary: This is a full novelization of the Golden Sun series. In this version, the main character actually talks, and some scenes not in the game are added. Read this if you want to revisit the tale in higher detail.
1. The Raid on Sol Sanctum

Okay, it used to really bother me how The Golden Sun saga never had the main protagonist talk to anybody. So I always assumed they were mute. However, once I played the lost age, Isaac started talking. So apparently the developers were too lazy to integrate main character dialogue, or they ran out of budget. Or another reason that my ignorant mind cannot fathom. Whatever.

So pretty much, this is a novelization where the main character actually talks. I'm pretty sure someone else out there has done this kind of thing before, but this one will be different merely because I wrote it. Ha.

So just bear with me and give this story a chance.

OH Crap. I had to go back and edit so I could put this disclaimer here: I DON'T OWN GOLDEN SUN AND NEVER WILL!

MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS

The old broken down barn situated on the eastern edge of Vale was hardly ever looked at. Since the owner died, the place had been left to rot. Now, the place was accepted and ignored by the many civilians living in Vale. While they could usually afford to do so, this suddenly changed one dark summer night.

The large figure sitting in the darkness of the Barn's interior stirred slightly. The scales and spikes on his arm glinted ominously in the dim light of the oil lamp nearby. Sighing, he ran a blue skinned hand through his wild blue hair.

He was already in full armor, and he was ready for the upcoming raid. The other men around him whispered indistinctly to one another as they played cards or ate what was left of their rations. They all steered clear of the dark figure, because they all knew what he could do once he was mad.

"Saturos, what is troubling you?" came a sultry female voice from behind him. The figure lifted his head and turned slightly. Another figure, this one female, emerged from the darkness behind him. She sat next to him and looked at him questioningly, her red eyes glinting darkly in the light.

"It's nothing, Menardi. It's just those ignorant fools. Can't they see the destruction looming before them?" Saturos growled irritably. Menardi nodded understandably.

"I see how that would get on your nerves, but you shouldn't let them bother you. It's not like they can stop us," she assured him confidently. She adjusted her cape so that it wouldn't hamper her movement.

"True. Are the men ready?" Saturos asked after thinking about her words. He was tired of waiting. He was ready to show those fools in Vale what happened when they crossed him.

"As they're going to be. I'm also ready. Give the order when you want the raid to begin," Menardi answered, smiling evilly. Her fangs gleamed in the dim light.

The men looked up in surprise as Saturos rose to his feet. Immediately, cards were packed up and the remainders of meals were wolfed. The atmosphere was one of anticipation, as everyone knew what lay before them.

"It's time," Saturos began simply. "Everyone suit up. We leave for Sol Sanctum in ten minutes."

The barn erupted with activity as the seven men hustled to carry out their orders. Menardi lifted her scythe from its position against the right wall and strapped it to her back.

"Are you ready, Saturos?" Menardi asked. Saturos grinned in response, revealing his fangs.

"It's time to take what's ours, and to save these fools from their own ignorance," he answered, and Menardi nodded approvingly.

MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS

The door of the barn opened slowly, and Saturos and Menardi slipped out, followed by the seven men. Weapons were drawn and Psynergies were readied. Saturos lifted a single clawed finger to his lips. They didn't want to have to hurt any of these villagers, for this mission was to save them in the long run. This meant staying absolutely quiet.

Turning to their left, the pair saw the path to Sol Sanctum. There were two houses on either side of the path, so they had to sneak in between them. Up ahead, Saturos could see the path take a sharp right behind a cliff.

After scanning the area, Saturos began to move forward. He was as silent as the snake he resembled. Menardi followed not far behind, and the men were last, as they were the weakest.

They passed the two houses and took a right to see a mostly straight path that led along a ledge overlooking three houses next to the river. It seemed easy enough, but Saturos knew better. IF one of them fell, then it would be all over. Then he would be forced to kill the villagers.

"Stay alert!" Saturos hissed behind him. He motioned to the rest and he stalked across the ledge. Upon reaching the end of the ledge, he climbed a set of stairs leading to the next level of the cliff. Almost immediately after doing so, Saturos caught sight of another set of stairs to his right. He changed his direction and ascended those as well.

Saturos led his team through the two houses ahead of them and across the winding path that led to the very top of the village. Once they reached the healing shrine, he knew that they were close.

Saturos motioned to his men to take cover against the wall of the shrine. Menardi did so, standing next to him, a concerned look on her face.

"What is it? What do you see?" she whispered anxiously.

"There's a guard. I don't think we can sneak past him," Saturos answered. Menardi peered around the corner and indeed, there was a slightly chunky guard wearing a silver cape standing in front of the thin staircase that led to their destination.

"Knock him out. It shouldn't be that hard," Menardi suggested. Saturos sighed. It seemed he would be forced to hurt him. Once he reached that conclusion, he hesitated no longer.

With a grunt, Saturos leapt around the corner, much to the surprise of the guard. The guard immediately sent a powerful blast of psynergy towards him. Saturos recognized the blast as "Move" as the force took the shape of a giant gloved hand. Drawing his red blade, Saturos sliced through the hand swiftly and sprinted towards the guard. Before the hapless guard could summon up another blast, Saturos drove his armored fist straight into the guard's stomach. The wind whooshed out of the man's lungs, and he bent over in pain. Saturos didn't give him a chance to recover. He smashed the man's head with the hilt of his blade, and the guard dropped like a stone. The entire exchange took a total of five seconds.

Saturos motioned to Menardi, and the team moved out from behind cover. Menardi glanced down at the motionless guard with approval.

"Is he dead?" she inquired, nudging the body with her foot. Saturos shook his head. He didn't want to kill the man, just get him out of the way.

"Oh well. At least he got what was coming to him," Menardi replied.

"Come on everyone. We don't have much farther until Sol Sanctum," Saturos said, resuming the march up the stairs.

MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS

The entirety of Mt. Aleph rose up before them, and the group stared up at it with awe. In front of the group was a grand doorway, surrounded by statues of angels and tiled by a strange, blue, metallic material.

"Unbelievable…this is the very pinnacle of Alchemy…" Menardi whispered, amazed. Saturos was similarly in awe of the greatness of the place. But he didn't dwell on it long.

"Come on. We can sightsee after the Elemental Stars are in our hands," Saturos ordered. Menardi nodded and the group resumed progress.

Saturos strode up to the doors and pushed them open easily, which surprised him. According to the village elders back in Prox, there were many puzzles inside. He was expecting one just to get in.

The first room was nothing special, merely a small corridor that led to the next area. Saturos led his team through the next door.

Here was the first puzzle. There was a large pit filled with water taking up the entire room. Saturos could see the door leading onward on the other side. Inspecting the pit, Saturos could make out small stepping stones beneath the water's surface.

"Follow me. Do exactly as I do unless you want to drown," Saturos said, his voice now back to its normal volume now that he was in the safety of Sol Sanctum. Confidently, he began to hop from each stepping stone to the next, until he was safely on the other side.

Menardi was the second to reach the other side, and she was none to happy.

"Ech, water. I hate how it feels on my skin," she hissed, drying her feet on the tiled floor. Saturos grinned at her antics. He hated water too, but he always could tolerate it more than she could.

The men soon followed, and progress resumed. Saturos found himself in a long corridor adorned with many breathtaking features. He marveled at the beautiful architecture. There didn't seem to be any puzzles, so he continued.

Saturos unwittingly walked right into a nest of killer bats. Irritated at his unexpected presence, the many bats took flight and began to dive bomb the party.

"Damn bats," Saturos muttered as he drew his sword. He sliced one bat in half as it dove at him, and then he fired a crimson beam of flame from his palm at a group of bats that were harassing Menardi. She nodded briefly in thanks and then sliced up another bat with her scythe.

He looked to see how his men were doing. Saturos cursed as he saw one of the men dead on the floor with a particularly large bat ripping his throat out. Roaring in rage, Saturos lifted his palm and fired several searing fireballs forth. The large bat wasn't able to move fast enough, so it and the dead soldier were burnt to a crisp. Saturos looked on, satisfied. He had effectively cremated the loyal soldier.

"Saturos! Watch out!" another soldier called. Saturos turned to see several bats as large as the one that killed his man swooping at him, intent on eating him alive.

Saturos let loose a blast of fiery energy from his body. It enveloped the bats, and soon, their skeletons littered the floor around him.

"I think that's all of them," Menardi conjectured as she burned the last bat with a fireball.

"Dammit, I should have been more alert," Saturos cursed.

"Nothing we can do now but move on," Menardi reassured him. Saturos nodded, although he was angry at himself. He looked through his men and healed their wounds with psynergy, and then he continued walking through the hall.

After walking through another door, Saturos saw another room like the first one. Only now there were three paths of stepping stones and three exits.

"Split up. Menardi and I will take the middle path. Jacobsen, you take two others and head up to the left. The rest of you, head right," Saturos ordered. Menardi stepped over to him, smiling.

"You know, you really should have sent me with one of the other teams," Menardi told him, although she made no attempt to disobey.

"No, I prefer you with me," Saturos replied warmly. Menardi laughed in response.

The pair proceeded across the stepping stones in the center, and the others carried out their orders.

"If these are the extent of this place's puzzles, then I've overestimated this place. I am not impressed," Menardi scoffed. Saturos agreed. It was too easy so far.

"It can't be this easy. Something harder has to be up ahead." He countered.

"I sure hope so," Menardi replied.

At the end of the corridor, there was a pedestal with a small gem on top. At the base of the pedestal were several large mushrooms.

"Saturos, those are carnivorous mushrooms," Menardi warned. Saturos had noticed, but he said nothing. Instead, he faced his palm towards them. Slowly, he moved his palm to his left. As he did so, a curtain of flames appeared to the right of the mushrooms and slowly traveled to the left, scorching the mushrooms and killing them.

After they were gone, Saturos grabbed the gem from the pedestal. The room was a dead end, so they went back the way they came.

"Saturos, sir!" called one of the three men who had gone to the right. Saturos glanced at them questioningly.

"There's a statue of a minotaur head in here. It's missing an eye. Did you find anything like a gem in there?" the man reported. Saturos and Menardi looked at one another meaningfully, and then Saturos produced the gem from his pocket. The man jumped back across the stones so that Saturos could give it to him, and then he jumped back. After a few seconds, there was a slight rumble, followed by a yelp from the left corridor.

"Saturos! A door just appeared out of nowhere!" Jacobsen called. Saturos nodded. So that's what the gem did.

The group reunited in front of the door, and Saturos led them through. They found themselves in a magnificent room. The walls were lined with statues of armored warriors with fearsome swords. There seemed to be no exit.

"Beautiful, but it seems to be a dead end," Menardi observed. Saturos shook his head.

"It can't be. There must be someplace where we can use our psynergy," he replied. "Men! Spread out! Look for suspicious areas!"

Menardi nodded and went off towards the left. Saturos wanted to go with her, but he needed to look in the other areas. So he went towards the right.

Once he was over there, a certain statue caught his eye. He squinted, wondering why this particular statue held his attention. Then he saw it.

It wasn't obvious, but this statue was a slightly different shade than the others. Maybe this one concealed something.

Unlike the guard that he knocked out, Saturos knew how to use Move to its fullest. Holding out his palm, the large white hand manifested nearby. With it, Saturos slowly pushed the statue out of the way to reveal a hidden spiral staircase.

"Over here," Saturos called. Menardi saw the new passageway first.

"Good job. How did you find it?" she asked. Saturos patiently pointed out the color difference. Menardi laughed at the simplicity of it, and then the group moved on.

They emerged in another long passageway with two paths. Saturos split them up again. Because they were the strongest, Saturos had Menardi go with his to the left, while he sent all of the men to the right.

"I think you just like going with me," Menardi joked as they walked down the hall.

"Of course," Saturos replied, keeping his gaze forward. Soon, he caught sight of another pedestal with another gem on it. This time, there was nothing but a strange green puddle in front of it.

Saturos held Menardi back so that he could inspect it. Drawing his blade, Saturos probed the puddle, but nothing happened. Satisfied, he tried to walk through it.

After taking his first step, he found that he couldn't move. Saturos looked down in surprise to see two claws made of the slime grasping his feet. Then the slime began to travel up his ankles.

"Ah! Menardi!" Saturos cried in alarm. Menardi ran to him and saw the predicament he was in. Her scythe was out in an instant.

"Death Size!" Menardi yelled, slicing at one of the claws. Her scythe glowed with a black light and struck the claw on Saturos's left foot. The claw shriveled up and died as the life force was drained from it. She then grasped the other claw with her hand and sent waves of fiery energy coursing through it, burning it to a crisp. Its weapons gone, the puddle retreated through the cracks in the ground.

"Thanks," Saturos said, his beating heart returning to its normal speed. That was too close for comfort.  
Menardi took the gem from the pedestal and pocketed it. Since this hall wasn't a dead end, they passed the pedestal and moved on.

The passage soon met another one. Looking down that passage, Saturos caught sight of Jacobsen and his men.

"Saturos?" Jacobsen whispered.

"It seems the passages meet up again," Saturos responded. Together again, the group entered the next room.

The room was very wide, but not very long. Once again there seemed to be no apparent exit, but there was a ledge on the wall in front of them containing many statues. The ones on the far right and the far left seemed to be moveable, because they were a different color than the rest. The ledge was separated from the group by a small channel of water.

"Menardi, move the one on the left. I'll move the one on the right," Saturos ordered. Menardi was confused for a second, but then she noticed the color difference.

Saturos moved to the far right of the room and stop just before the water and the statue. Saturos then used his psynergy to Move the statue out of the way. In front of him was a blank wall.

Saturos was confused. What was the point of placing a moveable statue here if all he found was a blank wall?

"Saturos! I found a Minotaur head," Menardi called. Suddenly, Saturos understood.

"Place the gem in," Saturos replied. There was a pause, and then the wall in front of him began to change. The stones began to shift and rotate, changing places in a fantastic way until there was a new doorway into the front. Saturos was impressed. The people who had built this place certainly knew what they were doing.

Saturos led his group down another hallway. Soon, they emerged into a small room. In the center of the room was a tiled picture of the sun. Surrounding it were four statues: one on each corner.

"Interesting, yet it serves no purpose," Menardi commented, and she continued walking. Saturos stared at the picture a little longer, and then he followed her. The next room was the same, only the picture was of the moon. Saturos passed this room as well, because it seemed purely decorative.

After descending a set of stairs, Saturos found himself in a room exactly like the lunar room, only the tiled moon was surrounded by a pool of water, and the statues were out of alignment. The solution seemed clear.

"We just have to put the statues back in alignment," Saturos conjectured. "Menardi, help me."

But they never got that far. Saturos Moved the first statue and then all hell broke loose. A low rumbling filled the room, and every stopped what they were doing. It got worse and worse, and even Saturos found it hard to keep his feet.

All of a sudden, a scream sounded from behind Saturos. He whirled and saw one of his men being electrocuted to death by a bolt of lightning. More bolts began to strike around them. Saturos saw more men die, and knew that this raid was over.

"Go! Get out!" Saturos yelled. What was left of the group began to sprint back they way they had come. A man tripped and was fired by another bolt behind Saturos. He cursed and ran up the stairs to the moon room.

Lightning was striking in this room too, and the rumbling only got worse. The group, which now numbered four including Saturos and Menardi, were running for their lives. Lightning struck all around them, and more than a few times Saturos was grazed.

"Dammit! My leg!" Jacobsen cried. Saturos turned to see the soldier on the ground. His leg was blackened and burnt from a lightning strike. Saturos went back for him and lifted the man up. The other soldier wasn't so lucky. He was struck as they entered the wide room again. Now all that was left was Saturos, Menardi, and Jacobsen.

Saturos ran as fast as he could even while supporting Jacobsen. Soon, the entrance loomed ahead.

Jacobsen let out a yell as Lightning struck his back. He slid off of Saturos's shoulder.

"Jacobsen! No!" Saturos cried. Menardi grabbed Saturos by the arm and dragged him forward.

"Leave him or you'll be next!" she yelled in his face. Although distraught, Saturos sprinted out of the doorway and into the open air. Except now it was raining.

Menardi was staring up at the peak of Mt. Aleph. Saturos followed her example and saw a awe inspiring sight. A massive, spiraling black cloud surrounding the top of the mountain, and rain was falling in sheets. Lighting strikes were a common sight.

"What have we done?" Saturos whispered. Saturos and Menardi stood at the base of Mt. Aleph, wondering what the hell they had unleashed.

MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS

Yeah I know that scene wasn't in the actual game, but I liked Saturos and Menardi, so I had to give them a scene in the beginning that allowed you to understand why the boulder fell in the first place.

For those of you, (like my friends) who have no idea who the people I'm talking about are, just Google search the names…duh…

Oh, and don't forget to review. Even if you hate reviewing, it's not that freaking hard. Just a button press and one word or more.


	2. The Fall of the Boulder

Right, so the first chapter seemed to have gone over well, so I'm continuing to the next one. Sadly, the Saturos and Menardi scene is over, so now I have to resume the story from the point of view of the main character!

So…the actual game was reeaally looooong…and this story will be even LONGER! Woohoo! This is because I actually have to describe the surroundings to those who've never played the game. (Like my friends) Those guys don't know what they're missing. Well then again, they don't have the patience.

I digress. So now the village of Vale pays for ignoring Saturos and Menardi.

* When you see this, it would be a good time to put on "Golden Sun: Saturos and Menardi Battle Theme" Just type that into YouTube or play it on iTunes if you are a nerd like me. Heheh

VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS

Thunder crashed overhead, and rain cascaded over the thatched roof of the small house. The noise was loud enough to wake anyone up, yet this did not matter to the sleeping youth inside.

The youth's bedroom took up the entire top floor, which was the privilege of living in a house only with his mother and father. His bed was situated on the far right side of the room, next to the bookcase which held all of his favorite novels. In between the two structures was a small window that looked out upon the village.

The youth sleeping fitfully in his bed was about fourteen, with bright blonde hair and an innocent face. He had always been known for his deep sleeping, but tonight was not the night to sleep in.

"Isaac! Wake up now!" screamed a frantic voice above him. Isaac stirred slightly and groaned and tried to ignore her. What time was it anyway?

"Please, dear, wake up!" screamed the voice again, this time more desperate. Isaac shot up in bed. His mother never sounded this desperate unless lives were in danger.

"What? What's going on?" Isaac murmured, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"The Mt. Aleph boulder is about to fall!" his mother yelled. Isaac was surprised for a moment, and then he relaxed.

"What, that old thing? There's no way that thing will ever…" he started, smiling. Just then, a small boulder crashed through the ceiling and fell straight through the floor to the ground.

"HOLY RAMSES!" Isaac screamed, throwing himself out of the way.

"Now do you believe me?" his mother, Dora, challenged. Thunder crashed again, shaking the whole house. Rain fell in through the newly made hole in the ceiling. "Come on, Isaac, we have to go now!"

"Go? Go where?" Isaac demanded, wondering what had happened to make this catastrophe occur. Dora motioned to the door anxiously. Isaac moved sluggishly after her, still mostly asleep.

"Wait, you forgot something!" Dora said suddenly. She then held out her hand. A ghostly hand appeared in midair and grabbed something off of the wall behind Isaac's bed. Psynergy, Isaac thought. She really had to teach him how to do that.

Dora deposited the object in her real hand and held it out to the confused Isaac. Then he understood. He took his tunic from her outstretched hand and put it on.

"It's raining like an early monsoon out there! You can't go out without your tunic!" she fussed and started to drag Isaac towards the stairs.

Isaac shook himself free from his mother's grasp and followed her. He was a big boy; he didn't need help descending a freaking staircase!

"Do you have everything you need?" Dora asked as they walked down the stairs. Isaac stopped and thought for a moment.

"No, wait, I need to get my…" he started to tell her. She cut across him, shaking her head.

"Forget it. A lost possession can be replaced, but not your life!" Dora said.

"Fine, gosh," Isaac complained. They reached the ground floor, which was now ruined by the small boulder that had fallen onto their parents' bed. Rain fell through the hole and drenched the wooden floors. Barrels were in place underneath other holes, catching the falling water, but they were almost overflowing. There was a solitary candle on a table, providing the only light in the house. Books lay in ruin on the floor, much to Isaac's dismay.

The door leading outside slammed open, and Isaac's father, Kyle, ran in. His brown hair was soaked, and his eyes were frantic.

"Dora! Isaac! Hurry! The Boulder could fall at any second!" he shouted. He motioned for them to follow him, and he ran back out into the storm. Isaac was wholly confused. What had caused the mighty boulder to become loose anyway? That rock was supposed to be held back by an entire rocky outcropping!

"Come on," Dora said, tapping Isaac. He nodded and followed her. As they got to the door, the candle blew out in the wind from the open door.

Kyle was waiting for them outside in the downpour. Isaac was instantly soaked. His tunic helped some, but there was too much water falling from the blackened sky.

"Kyle, will they be able to stop the boulder?" Dora asked desperately, hugging her husband. Isaac guessed that she was referring to the village elders. Either them or the younger people with psynergy. Kyle then looked over his shoulder up near the entrance to Sol Sanctum.

"I don't think so. Not for long anyway," Kyle replied. Then he let out a sigh. "I want both of you to head south to the plaza. You will hopefully be able to find refuge there."

"What, you aren't coming?" Dora inquired, alarmed. Isaac was as well. If his father wasn't coming, then was he going to help the elders?

"I need to help the other villagers get away," Kyle explained.

"Dad, maybe mom and I can go with you," Isaac suggested. He didn't like the idea of sitting around in the plaza while his father risked his life.

"Good idea!" Dora agreed, stepping towards Kyle. Isaac was surprised. What, his mom actually agreed with him for once?

"No. Dora, just head to the plaza for me and take good care of Isaac," Kyle begged.

"I can take of myself!" Isaac spoke up, indignant. He was fourteen now, he didn't need a babysitter!

"Isaac is old enough to get to the plaza on his own," Dora argued. Yeah you tell him, Isaac thought. Hey wait a minute…

"You can find your way alone, can't you Isaac?" Dora asked, turning to Isaac.

"Yeah, but I want to help you guys out!" Isaac answered, somewhat irritated about how he was being treated.

"Perfect! Let's go!" Dora said, and then she and Kyle headed up and out of sight in between his house and another, while Isaac was still arguing.

Isaac was left in the rain, all by himself next to his house. It was no use being angry now. He turned around and headed towards the staircase that led towards the plaza.

As Isaac neared the first step, there was a loud crash and the ground shook Isaac off of his feet. He cursed and wiped the mud out of his face. He rose to his feet and peered down the staircase to see a large boulder where the stairs used to be. It looked like he had to find another way around.

Isaac headed back the way he came. He wasn't worried, because there was another staircase just ahead. When he reached it, he saw to his dismay that it was ruined as well. Was he trapped up here?

Isaac wasn't just going to sit around up here until he got crushed, so he headed the same way his parents did. He found himself at another staircase, only this one led upwards.

Isaac recognized the house at the top as his best friend Garet's. He wondered if Garet would still be there, but then he reasoned that his friend was probably already at the plaza and safe. Unlike Isaac. Man, his luck sucked right now.

He headed up the stairs and went around the house and came across a comical sight. Isaac saw Garet, who was not at the plaza, attempting to pull a cart holding a box full of all of his possessions with a rope. He was getting nowhere.

Isaac chuckled somewhat at how stupid his friend was acting, but nonetheless he headed up to help.

"What do you want, Isaac? I'm trying to save my things!" Garet grunted, his red hair drenched with rainwater and sweat.

"Forget your darn things! In case you hadn't noticed, there's a huge boulder ABOUT TO DESTROY OUR VILLAGE!" Isaac shouted. Garet didn't seem fazed. Either he was being brave or just stupid. Isaac knew it was the latter.

"What, you expect me just dump my stuff?" Garet demanded, dropping the rope.

"I'm saying, forget your stuff and save your own life!" Isaac rephrased, wondering how many times he would have to say it. Garet stood there stupidly and thought about it for a second.

"You know, you're right. Let's get out of here!" the redhead agreed. Isaac offered a silent prayer in thanks to Gaia for not having Garet be stubborn right now.

Now that Garet was safe with Isaac, he could concentrate on reaching the plaza. The two ran for their lives, ignoring the staircase to Sol Sanctum and crossing the bridge instead. However, they heard something very troubling once they reached the other side. The ground began to rumble ominously, and the two heard a desperate cry.

"Ahh! The Boulder! It's going to fall!" screamed the voice. Isaac and Garet ran to the railing to see the four strongest psynergy users in Vale standing in a line. Then they saw it.

There was a colossal boulder that was easily five times the size of a house tumbling down the hill that led to Sol Sanctum at a high speed. Isaac and Garet watched in terror as the four men held out their hands and focused all of their psynergy on the boulder. The massive messenger of destruction slowed, but didn't stop. Even from here, Isaac could make out the men shaking with the sheer effort required to hold the thing back,

"Argh! IT's too heavy! We can't hold it forever!" yelled one of the men.

"If our psynergy runs out, then Vale will be destroyed!" screamed another. Isaac and Garet looked at each other. Isaac could see the fear in Garet's eyes.

"Hurry Isaac! We need to run!" the redhead cried. Isaac nodded and the two began to sprint. They jumped down a set of stairs and followed a passageway that led through the cliffs.

As they ran, smaller boulders crashed around them. Several times, Isaac nearly lost a limb to them.

The two soon came upon a troubling sight. The fence that usually kept the monsters from outside the village from coming in had been shattered by a small boulder, and a motionless villager lay nearby.

"That's not good. If that fence is gone, then," Garet whispered.

"Then monsters will be everywhere. Do you have any weapons?" Isaac finished, looking meaningfully at Garet.

"What? Yeah. That I did bring," Garet replied. He pulled a small shortsword out of his belt and handed it to Isaac, who twirled it once to test its balance. Then Garet pulled out one of his own.

"Check on that man over there," Isaac ordered. Garet nodded and ran over to him while Isaac stood guard, his sword at the ready.

"He's dead," Garet whispered after checking his pulse. Isaac cursed. He really wanted to know what had caused this whole thing anyway.

"Then leave him. We have to get to the plaza," Isaac ordered. Garet nodded and followed Isaac as they began to run again. After navigating through a few cliffs, Isaac saw the entrance to the upper level of the part of the village they were in last. However, there were two strange creatures standing in front of the bridge.

"Monsters," Garet said, pointing. Isaac looked, and saw them. He didn't recognize them as any monster that he had been shown in school, but that didn't matter. He just needed to get past them.

"There's nothing for it. Take 'em down!" Isaac yelled, drawing his shortsword. Garet let out a yell and charged in front of Isaac, who was right behind him.

The strange, rat-like creatures, now alert to their presence, began to charge back, their mouths open to reveal slimy, sharp fangs. They were about the size of Isaac, so he was sure to be cautious.

Garet went for the one on the left, leaving the last one for Isaac to deal with. As the rat creature neared, Isaac dived down to the ground, so it tripped over him. Seizing the opportunity, Isaac thrust his arm backwards to the right, hoping he could catch the creature off guard. Isaac grunted in satisfaction as he felt his blade score. The rat screeched in pain and extricated itself from the blade.

Isaac rose from the ground, his clothing now soaked with rain, sweat, and monster blood. How pleasant.

The rat he had slashed was now facing him, its red eyes glaring at him in pure rage. Blood dripped steadily from a wound on its furry arm. Isaac cursed. The creature wasn't down yet.

Suddenly, the rat lunged, catching Isaac unawares. Soon, the blonde found himself pinned to the ground by the rat. Dropping his blade, Isaac took booth of his arms and grabbed the creature's neck, pushing with all his might in order to keep the snapping jaws away from his face.

Then, Isaac head butted the creature in the nose, causing it to recoil. Then the blonde kneed it in the stomach, forcing it off of him.

Isaac rolled to the left and grabbed his blade. Spotting the creature attempting to catch its breath nearby, Isaac ran forward and sank the full length of his blade into the creature's back. Screeching, the rat attempted to push the blade out, but soon its struggles ceased and it went limp.

Isaac sighed in relief and pulled out his blade. Wiping it upon the grass, Isaac then turned to see how Garet was doing.

Garet slashed forward and cut open the chest of the creature, and then he finished it off with a quick stab.

"Garet! Are you okay?" Isaac asked worriedly, sheathing his blade back in his belt. Garet nodded, breathless.

"Come on. We still have some ways to go," the redhead managed to gasp. Isaac didn't know what those creatures were, but that didn't matter now. The two set off at a run towards the bridge. However, they were too late. A particularly large boulder flew through the air and crashed into the wooden structure, snapping it with ease.

"Dammit!" Garet cursed. "Difficulty after difficulty!"

"This way!" Isaac said, pointing down south. "There's another staircase here!"

The two headed down the way that Isaac had suggested, and the run resumed. They reached another, larger staircase, which Isaac knew led towards Felix's house.

"Oh no! My brother!" a voice cried. Isaac's heart leapt as he recognized Jenna's voice. Jenna had always been Isaac's crush, and it killed him to hear her scream like that.

"Jenna!" Isaac yelled, running forward. Garet rushed forward as well.

On the pier next to Felix's house, Isaac spotted both his and Jenna's parents, and Jenna herself were standing, peering over the railing at a lone figure in the water. Wait, was that…

"Hang on Felix!" Kyle yelled. It was! That was Felix hanging on to the broken tree in the water!

"Garet we have to do something!" Isaac cried. Garet nodded and joined the group on the pier. They didn't seem to notice their arrival.

"He'll be all right, we'll find some way to save him," Dora fussed. Just then, there was a snap, and the branch Felix was hanging onto broke in half, sending him into the flooded waters.

"NO!" yelled several voices, including Isaac's.

"Felix!" Jenna cried, and she hugged her mother tearfully.

"Look!" Garet cried, causing everyone to look at the river again. Felix had managed to surface from the river and grab hold of a lower branch. Isaac sighed in relief, but he knew that Felix needed help.

"Dad, use the rope!" Isaac said to Kyle, pointing to the small rope on the ground. Kyle bent over and picked it up, yet he frowned when he saw the length of it.

"This rope won't reach. Does anyone have any psynergy left?" Kyle asked, letting the rope fall to his side.

"Nope, I've used all of mine up," Jenna's dad said regretfully. "What about you, Kyle?"

"I'm drained from helping the other villagers," Kyle sighed, his posture falling somewhat.

"We need to get help!" Dora interrupted, pointing down towards the direction of the plaza. "Someone must still have psynergy left!"

"Can Felix hang on that long?" Kyle said doubtfully.

"Would you rather we sit here and stare as he drowns right before our eyes?" Dora shrieked, her voice rising.

"She has a point," Jenna's mom piped up.

"All right, but hurry. We don't have much time at all," Kyle relented.

"Jenna, go with Dora," Jenna's dad ordered. "Your brother is counting on you."

Jenna nodded, and went to stand over by Dora. The two began to leave the pier.

"I'll go up north, and you can go head for the plaza," Dora ordered. Jenna nodded and went off to do just that. Then, Isaac spoke up.

"Hey, don't leave us behind! We want to help too!" the blonde argued, hoping his mom wouldn't send him off again.

"Good idea. Go and join Jenna!" Dora said before dashing up north as she said. Now that Isaac had a mission, he motioned to Garet and the two set off, again, towards the plaza.

The path was fairly straightforward, so the two descended three sets of stairs, past the old abandoned barn, until they finally reached the plaza.

The plaza wasn't much. It consisted of three large buildings surrounding a large pool of water in the center. In the center of the pool was a large, purple crystal. Many of the other villagers were here already, taking refuge from the impending disaster.

"Where's Jenna?" Garet demanded, looking around. Isaac looked as well, and soon caught sight of Jenna's reddish dark brown hair.

"There!" Isaac alerted Garet, and the two ran to her. Jenna was talking to the oldest village elder, who was giving orders to two burly young men.

"Go help the rest of the village elders," the old man wheezed. "They can't hold back the Boulder forever!"

"We can't let the Mt. Aleph Boulder destroy our village!" one of the men agreed, and they set off up north at a run.

"Grandpa! Jenna!" Garet called, catching their attention.

"Garet! Isaac! You came to help me?" Jenna replied, looking relieved.

"Yeah, we came to find someone to help Felix," Isaac answered, trying not to look overmuch at Jenna. The old man was about to say something, when they were interrupted.

"Great! I'm all charged up!" a man said. Everyone looked to see another villager standing by the purple crystal. He turned around and hopped back towards them.

"How are you, have you recovered your psynergy?" the old man asked. A ray of hope seemed to appear to Isaac. If this man had psynergy…

"Enough to save Felix. You gotta love this psynergy stone," the man said, pointing to the purple crystal.

"Then go and help these children," the old man ordered.

"Hurry! We must save Felix!" Jenna cried. Isaac nodded, and the group of four set off back the way they'd come. Hah, if he didn't have leg muscles after this, then he was a tadpole.

When the group reached the bridge that overlooked the river, the group ran into Dora.

"Jenna? Is that you?" Dora asked, reaching a stop in front of them. She looked very tired. "I didn't find anyone who could help. How did you do?"

Jenna, Garet, and Isaac all looked at the fourth member of the group. The man went and stood in front of Dora, attempting to look heroic.

"Good. Then let's go back down before Felix loses his grip!" Dora cried. Isaac nodded, and the five finished crossing the bridge and descended the stairs. Right as they reached the pier, a loud crash shook the area.

Everyone stopped, alarmed, and began to look around. Isaac dismissed it. It must have been more thunder. Then the crash repeated itself. The crashing then became more frequent, and the group all looked up north.

Where the river met the cliff, there was a large waterfall. This was normal, but the colossal boulder tumbling down it was not.

"THE BOULDER!" Kyle screeched, and then everything went to hell. Everyone scattered in different directions as the Boulder came closer and closer. Kyle and Jenna's parents, who were still on the pier, were the first ones hit. The Boulder shattered the house AND the pier like they were made of matchsticks and sent the three tumbling into the river.

Isaac could only stare in horror as the mass of broken wood and people hit the branch where Felix was hanging and soon the three drowning people became four.

Then, Isaac felt a burst of pain on the right side of his head and he fell to the ground in a daze, where the screams and crashes went out of focus, and all he could hear was the pounding of his pulse in his head.

VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS

"Isaac! Are you all right?" sounded Jenna's voice from above him. Isaac groaned in response and tried to rise. He then felt warm hands clasp his and gently helped him rise to his feet.

"I have one heck of a headache, but I'm fine," Isaac murmured. His mind was racing, due in part to the fact that Jenna was so close to him. However, his mind was more focused on the village. Looking around, he was astonished at the amount of destruction that had taken place. Houses and bridges had been shattered, the cliffs were notched, and fallen trees littered the passageways.

"Thank Gaia for that," Jenna whispered. Isaac looked at Jenna, and saw that her eyes were filled with tears. Isaac remembered that her parents and her brother had been killed by the boulder. But that wasn't it…

"DAD!" Isaac shouted, and he rushed to the riverside. There was no sign of Kyle. Jenna was soon at his side, holding Isaac's hand as tears rushed down his face.

"Ow, what hit me?" Garet muttered, and the red head was soon at his feet. Isaac looked around, and saw that Dora, the man from the plaza, Garet, and Jenna were the only ones around him. Most seemed unhurt. The man from the plaza seemed to have had his leg crushed by the boulder, but that was it.

Returning to his senses, Isaac decided to lock away his feelings until everyone was safe. He extricated himself from Jenna and began to return to the plaza.

Isaac's mind was hardened, and his face showed no emotion. However, this changed once he reached the cliffs near the plaza.

"So, Menardi, only the two of us survived," sounded a deep voice from on top of the cliff. Isaac looked up to see two figures. One was for some reason, blue skinned, and had scales and spikes on his left arm. He was fully armored, and had a blade strapped to one side of his waist. His hair was blue too, and he had a cape that extended to the ground. The other was female, and had blonde hair and red eyes. She also was scaled and spiked, only her skin was normal colored. She had a scythe strapped to her back.

"Saturos, how could we have anticipated that Sol Sanctum would have unleashed such fury?" the one called Menardi replied.

"It's a miracle that even we survived," Saturos muttered, looking up at the sky. Isaac pressed himself against the cliff side and continued to listen.

"That statue, it must have been a trap," Menardi reasoned, her face pensive.

"But to think it could summon up a storm this powerful," Saturos marveled, flicking a droplet of water off of one of his spikes.

"It is merely another demonstration of the sheer power of Alchemy," Menardi replied, shivering in the rain.

"Regardless, we must not fail the next time we challenge Sol Sanctum," Saturos added, facing Menardi again. Alchemy? Sol Sanctum? Were THESE people the one who caused the fall of the boulder? Isaac felt his blood boil at the mere thought that these people had killed his father.

"Next time, we shall certainly…"Menardi began.

"Isaac! Wait!" screamed Garet from behind Isaac. The blonde cursed and knew that his cover had been blown. Dammit, Garet!

Saturos and Menardi stalked up to the cliff's edge and stared down upon Isaac and his stumbling friend, Garet. Isaac stared back, unafraid. Whoever these two were, they were going to pay.

"You were eavesdropping on us just now, weren't you," Saturos accused calmly, his expression remaining neutral.

"Of course I was, what you've done to this village is unforgivable!" Isaac shouted at the duo. Saturos smiled slightly at Isaac's bravery, and then he turned back to Menardi and whispered something.

"Isaac…" Garet whispered. "They look scary, are you sure we should be talking to them?"

"You must forget everything you have heard," Menardi demanded, turning to them. Her scythe was out.

"Don't worry, we'll help you forget!" Saturos roared suddenly, drawing his blade. Before Isaac could get a chance to think or even draw his blade, the two were upon them.

*now

Menardi, her scythe whirling around expertly, headed for Garet. She slashed wildly from left to right. Garet stepped back, avoiding her slashes, and then drew his blade.

"Put that toy away," Menardi laughed, and then blew it out of his hand with a blast of fire. Garet screamed in pain as his hand was put on fire. It didn't last long because of the rain. But burns covered his hand.

Not even bothering to use the blade on her scythe, Menardi kicked Garet ruthlessly and then smashed him over the head with the handle of her scythe, knocking him out. Then she stood back to watch Saturos destroy Isaac.

Isaac dove to the ground as soon as Saturos attacked, attempting to use the same trick he had used on the rats.

Isaac drew his blade and tried to cut Saturos's feet, but the tougher man stomped down viciously on Isaac's sword arm, breaking it and forcing Isaac to release his blade.

Although in pain, Isaac rolled away from Saturos and rose to his feet. He started to charge towards Saturos with his good arm, but Saturos stopped him.

Holding out his palm, Saturos began to glow with a red light. Isaac stopped as he felt the ground rumble beneath his feet. Fire erupted in a circle around Isaac, until he was encircled in a tall pillar of flame. Isaac looked around for an exit, but he found none.

Then, Saturos suddenly clenched his hand into a fist and the pillar constricted, covering Isaac in searing flames. Isaac screamed in pain as his body and clothing were burned. Eventually, Isaac could take no more and collapsed.

"Still alive, after that beating?" Menardi observed, somewhat impressed. She stepped over the motionless form of Garet and walked over to Saturos.

"I didn't want to kill him. Killing children is beneath us," Saturos replied, sheathing his sword.

"True. However, I'm sure the beating we gave them will encourage them to forget," Menardi laughed, returning her scythe back to its position on her back. "Let's go. We have some work to do."

Saturos nodded and the two headed back towards the abandoned barn.

VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS VENUS

Heheh I had fun writing that scene. Saturos and Menardi beat up little kids! Hooray! Moving on…

Now that the prologue is finally over, I can actually start their journey! I don't know how I'm going to do the parts of the game that are not linear. Any suggestions would be nice.

**CreativeJournalist: **Thank you for being my first reviewer! I dedicate this chapter to you. I'm just going to make Isaac a typical teenager for the story. Except far more mature. :)


	3. Three Years Later

Anyway. This is the three years later part. Which is apparently how long it takes Isaac to fix his house? Whatever. I always found it odd how Isaac never told anyone about fighting Saturos and Menardi until after they're trying to destroy the world…someone tell me how that makes sense.

Do you know how many typos I had to correct when typing the name Isaac? I always put two S's or two C's. Or sometimes two S's AND two C's…moving on.

I hate how little you see Saturos and Menardi in the game until you fight them for the last time. You just hear about them. The thing is…I LOVE writing about them. They are sooo badass!

MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS (THREE YEARS LATER) MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS MARS

Sweat formed on Isaac's forehead as he labored to create the patches that were necessary to fix the roof of his house. Three years had passed since the disaster, and since then everyone in the village had teamed together in order to repair the damage. However, nothing could repair the hole in Isaac's heart after he lost his father and one of his best friends.

"Isaac, aren't you finished mending the roof yet?" Dora called impatiently from the ground, annoying the hardworking Isaac.

"Mom, I'm doing the best that I can!" Isaac replied irritably. Dora huffed and ordered him to keep at it before she sat down next to the door that led inside.

In front of Isaac's house was a small cliff that held another house. Next to that house was Garet, who was working hard on improving his psynergy abilities. He was grunting and straining to maintain the ghostly hand that was his "Move."

"Hee hee! Still training, Garet?" sounded Jenna's voice from that cliff. Isaac looked up in surprise to see her next to the laboring redhead. When did she get there?

Garet ignored her and grunted. The hand finally became tangible enough so that Garet could move the stone pillar in front of him forward.

"You sure do put your heart into it!" Jenna called to him, and she began to leave.

"Oh, I'm just finishing up," Garet said, turning to her. Jenna stopped and looked back at him.

"That's good. It's time to go, and I was about to leave you behind," she said, her hands going to her hips.

"Oh no, don't do that!" Garet cried, alarmed. He ran over to her and stood by her side, irritating Isaac a little. That should be him over there next to her. The blonde hurried up his repairs.

"Say, what happened to you two?" Jenna asked when he got next her. Garet looked at her, confused. "That accident, three years ago. Is that why you've been studying psynergy so hard?"

"Well…" Garet began, but Jenna cut across him.

"I appreciate your concern, but my family…they're not coming back. What I'm trying to say is, you can take a break every once in a while," Jenna assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Annoyed, Isaac completed the final patch and then he prepared to put them in place with his psynergy. Before he could, they started talking again, and Isaac couldn't help but listen.

Jenna and Garet both said something at the same time, and then they stopped. Jenna looked annoyed, and Garet looked embarrassed.

"What, Garet?" Jenna asked, crossing her arms.

"Nothing," the redhead said, scratching the back of his neck. Jenna looked confused for a second.

"Huh? You were about to say something, weren't you?" Jenna accused, disbelieving.

"No, I wasn't," Garet replied, still looking embarrassed. Jenna huffed, really annoyed now.

"Don't be weird!" she told him. When Garet didn't say anything, Jenna turned and walked down the stairs back towards Isaac's house. "Whatever."

"Jenna, are you mad at me?" Garet asked timidly, following her. She shook her head, not saying a word. Isaac grinned to himself. Jenna _hated _being blown off.

"Isaac's waiting for us," she finally said. Isaac was startled at this for a second. Why was he…oh right. They had to meet Kraden today.

As Garet and Jenna approached, Isaac finally stood up and used his psynergy on the first patch. The traditional ghostly hand appeared, grabbed the patch, and placed it in the first hole, where it promptly fused itself with the roof. Smiling at the good result, Isaac did the same for the two other patches.

"Good job Isaac!" Dora exclaimed, climbing up on the roof next to Isaac. He winced as she walked over the parts he just patched. Those patches would be fragile for the next couple days until they fused completely. "You've patched it quite nicely."

"Well of course. It's only because I did it," Isaac boasted with a smile. Dora nodded in acknowledgement.

"You are very reliable Isaac. Just like your father," she praised him. The smile left Isaac's face almost immediately. Why did she go and mention Kyle at a time like this? Is she trying to make him sad?

"What is it, Isaac? Do you still think about the accident?" Dora asked, noticing the change in demeanor. Isaac nodded somberly, sitting down on the roof with a sigh.

"You and Garet have been working yourselves to the bone studying psynergy. Why is that?" Dora pushed.

"It's just…I wish I'd have known psynergy then. Then I would have been able to save Felix and Dad," Isaac muttered, not looking at his mother.

"Look, even I had psynergy, and there was still nothing I could do," Dora assured him. "It's taken some time, but I'm mostly all right now. As long as I have you, Isaac."

"Mom," Isaac said, blushing a little bit at her last statement.

"Look at you! You're seventeen! You remind me so much of Kyle when he was your age," Dora praised him again.

"MA'AAAM!" Jenna howled, poking her head over the edge of the roof. Isaac and Dora jumped in surprise and turned to look. Jenna climbed up on the roof and went over to Isaac. Isaac and Jenna embraced warmly, and then stood next to one another. Ever since the accident, Isaac and Garet had been the closest thing to a family Jenna could have.

"Hello, Jenna! Good morning," Dora acknowledged her presence with the standard pleasantries. Next, Garet joined them on the roof. "Well, If it isn't Garet too!"

"We're going to Mt. Aleph with Kraden, ma'am. We came to get Isaac," Garet informed Dora, who looked none too happy at the news.

"Mountain climbing with Kraden , huh?" Dora accused, looking annoyed. "Kids and their games…"

"No, it's part of our studies," Jenna protested.

"Ah yes. Alchemy, the foundation of all psynergy," Dora said, looking thoughtful.

"Mt. Aleph is the greatest source of Alchemy!" Isaac piped up, earning a nod from Dora. His mother walked closer to the edge of the roof, looking sad.

"Alchemy. I wonder what use it all is. Your mother would just like to see you grow up into a happy, ordinary man," Dora continued. Isaac groaned mentally. She was trying to guilt trip him into staying home with her. Like hell! He wanted to enjoy some time with his friends, and most importantly Jenna, and there was no way she was going to stop him. Isaac remained silent.

"But I suppose you still want to go…" Dora admitted.

"Of course. I've really been looking forward to it," Isaac replied, making sure to keep his face neutral.

"Well, if that won't convince you to stay, then nothing will. You're just as stubborn as your father!" Dora said in exasperation.

"Um…is that a compliment?" Isaac joked, earning a smile from his friends.

"Be careful ma'am!" Garet cried as Dora grew closer to the edge. However, she tripped over the tip of the roof and fell off, screaming. Garet ran towards the edge, attempting to grab hold of her.

"Garet, don't!" Isaac yelled, because Garet was standing right on one of the patches. It was too late. There was a snap and Garet's right leg fell through the roof. Cursing, the redhead fell over, stuck.

Then Dora poked her head over the top of the roof, having apparently grabbed onto the edge.

"Oh! That was exciting!" she exclaimed. Then the whole situation became comical. Isaac's face fell into his hand. Garet twitched and muttered, trying to extricate himself from the roof that Isaac spent so much time fixing.

"Sorry I scared you like that," Dora apologized. When she realized that no one was paying attention, she turned around to see what was going on. Then she saw Garet. "Well!"

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I'll get out of your way right away!" Garet mumbled. He managed to jump out of the hole, onto another portion of the roof.

"Wait! Not there!" Jenna shouted! Garet turned around, wondering why Jenna was freaking out.

"Wha? What's wrong with…" Garet began, and then the patch he was standing on gave way and his right leg ended up…again…in a hole.

"Oh never mind!" Dora huffed, turning away.

"Right. So here we are, on the roof. Except for Garet, who is IN THE ROOF!" Isaac stated, earning a laugh from Jenna.

"All right, let's go," Jenna said finally, lifting Garet out of the roof. Isaac nodded and the group of three climbed down off the roof, with Dora close behind.

"Good! This old house will fall apart if you stay much longer!" she muttered. Isaac chuckled and the group moved on. They climbed the stairs towards Garet's training pillar to see another red haired girl who happened to be Garet's sister. Garet yelped and hid behind the nearby house.

"GARET! YOUR TRAINING STONE CRUSHED MY FLOWERS!" Garet's sister holler at the top of her voice.

"Quick! Let's run before she notices me!" Garet whispered. Isaac was tempted to announce his presence, but he was anxious to get to Kraden's.

"All right, come on," Isaac said, motioning for the other two to follow him. The three walked past the house and crossed the bridge that led to Kraden's cottage. There were a few puppies playing over in the corner, with a blonde villager watching them, and the group passed them.

As they walked in between the cliffs, Isaac and the others heard a shockingly familiar voice. It was so shocking, Isaac stopped dead in his tracks.

"They know little of Sol Sanctum's mysteries," Saturos's voice was unmistakable, even after three years.

"Who was that?" Jenna whispered. "I don't recognize his voice."

"That's a good thing," Isaac muttered back.

"The elders of Vale must not permit anyone to enter it, not even Kraden," Saturos continued.

"Kraden…can we use him?" Menardi spoke up. Isaac was wondering when she would show up. Those two seemed to travel as a pair.

"Yes. His knowledge is no meager thing. To ignore him would be foolish," Saturos replied. Isaac peeked around the corner and saw the two menacing figures. They looked pretty much the same as they did three years ago. If anything, they seemed scarier and taller.

"I just wish he wasn't so stubborn," Menardi complained, leaning against the cliff.

"And cunning. He's learned to use his knowledge to his advantage." Saturos added.

"If he won't go willingly, then we can always…" Menardi began, but at that moment, Garet leaned against a rock, which then slid away from him. The clumsy redhead fell flat on his face.

"Stop. We're being watched," Saturos interrupted, and he strode forward towards their hiding place. Isaac wasn't able to move in time, and the group of three was soon confronted by the powerful Saturos and Menardi.

"What do you think you are doing?" Saturos demanded, his voice level.

"Hmm, what are we doing?" Garet spoke up, rising from his position on the ground. Isaac hissed at him to shut up. This was bad. Very bad.

"Were you eavesdropping on our conversation?" Menardi asked, her hand straying to the handle of her scythe.

"N-no, we weren't," Isaac stuttered. This was how he nearly got fried three years ago. He didn't want to anger the duo. Isaac knew what they were capable of.

"Hmph. I guess I should take you at your word," Menardi grunted, her hand going back to her side. Isaac sighed in relief.

"Hey! You were the ones who were sneaking around!" Garet yelled, pointing at Saturos.

"Garet…shut up!" Jenna hissed. Isaac was relieved that at least Jenna had some sense.

"Sneaking…" Saturos repeated, his eyes filled with rage. "Who are you, to accuse me?"

"So…Kraden's engagement was with you," Menardi confirmed, turning to Saturos. Isaac saw that the blue skinned warrior was very close to attacking.

"Yes ma'am. We're off to meet him right now," Jenna replied, picking her words carefully. Menardi smiled after hearing her.

"Ah. Some respect at last. Saturos, I like this girl," the woman commented. Saturos was not appeased, however.

"And this appointment was enough to drive us away?" he demanded.

"Apparently so, if Kraden saw fit to send you away," Isaac answered boldly. Saturos stood there for a second, trying hard to contain his rage.

"Heh! Well, if your errand is more important than our own," Saturos mused.

"Not very likely," Menardi snorted.

"Alright. Go," Saturos said finally. Isaac couldn't believe his ears. Did this duo not recognize him? Were they just going to let them go?

"You're letting us go?" Jenna asked, voicing Isaac's concerns.

"Are you sure, Saturos?" Menardi inquired of her taciturn partner.

"Menardi, we have no more reason to delay these children any longer," Saturos explained, and the duo stepped back to give room for the three.

"Come…come on guys. Let's go," Isaac stammered, edging slowly past Saturos and Menardi, whose eyes never left him.

Isaac let out a huge sigh of relief once he was near the stairs that led to Kraden's house. That was too close.

"Just who were they?" sounded a wizened voice from the house nearby. Isaac looked to see Kraden, the elderly scholar who was not Vale-born, but a beloved part of the community all the same. He was pacing back and forth, talking to himself like he usually did. "They already knew too much of Sol Sanctum's secrets. More than even the village elders know!"

"And what were they saying about elements?" Kraden continued to muse, not even noticing when Isaac, Garet, and Jenna walked up to him. "Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind…they plan to set them into motion? Well they definitely did that…but there's more?"

Isaac cleared his throat, but Kraden ignored him.

"And the four Elemental Stars are the key? These are things that even I, a trained Alchemy scholar, do not know," Kraden added. Isaac cleared his throat louder.

"Oh! Isaac!" Kraden exclaimed, finally noticing the group of three. "and Jenna and Garet! Good to see you!"

"Kraden, you look like something's bothering you," Isaac observed, stating the obvious.

"Me? Ah well," Kraden replied with a tired look in his eyes. Garet turned around and looked around.

"It's those two, isn't it? Saturos and Menardi were their names, right?" Garet guessed, his tone angry. Kraden walked over to Garet and peered over where he was looking.

"They're still out there? They're a persistent bunch," he observed, seeing the dark duo sitting against a tree.

"What did they want from you?" Isaac demanded, wanting to find out as much as he could about his father's murderers.

"Mt. Aleph and Sol Sanctum," Kraden murmured. Isaac and the others looked at him, confused. "They spoke as if they'd seen them with their own eyes."

"That can't be right. No one is allowed up there!" Isaac mused, and then he recalled how he had not seen the guard that was usually in front of Sol Sanctum when he had been on his way to the plaza.

"If they entered secretly, then they must be thieves!" Jenna deduced, her cute hands clenching.

"We have to go tell the high elders and the villagers!" Garet exclaimed, a look of rage on his face. Isaac was mad too. Sol Sanctum was a holy place. No one like those scum should be allowed to defile those sacred hallways unpunished.

"Come on!" Isaac said, rallying the other two. They began to set off, forgetting Kraden for a second.

"Wait, everyone!" Kraden cried, halting them in their place. "I don't know how accurate the things they said were. We can do nothing until we confirm what they told me!"

"Then what would you have us do?" Isaac demanded, irritated from having his revenge forestalled. Kraden looked very excited.

"Well, we go confirm it!" Kraden suggested.

"Are you saying we should go into Sol Sanctum ourselves?" Garet asked incredulously. Isaac was similarly surprised. What would they gain by breaking the law to catch lawbreakers?

"Isn't that impossible?" Jenna asked.

"Why would it be?" Kraden countered. "Is it just because climbing Mt. Aleph is forbidden?"

"I would prefer not to get in any trouble with the village," Isaac shot back.

"We're just going to see whether or not they've been in the mountain," Kraden defended with a somewhat hurt expression on his face. "Surely that would be acceptable."

"We'll be fine if they don't see us, right?" Garet piped up. Isaac sighed. Of course it would be him that agreed first.

"It's just not right," Isaac argued, but he knew there was no way he would be able to convince the two.

"This will be our secret okay?" Jenna whispered, gazing pleadingly at Isaac. What, her too? Isaac knew he would have to give in. There was no way he would be able to refuse her when she looked at him like that.

"Fine…" Isaac muttered. Jenna, Garet, and Kraden smiled.

"It will be dangerous, but you all can use psynergy!" Kraden finished, looking very happy.

"Great! Everyone follow me!" Garet declared, striding down the pathway. Nobody moved.

"I think Isaac should be the one to go first," Kraden suggested, stopping Garet in his tracks.

"But, Isaac isn't as strong as me! We need someone tough like me to lead!" Garet protested, somewhat egotistically.

"Don't worry, you're more cautious than Garet, so you'll be fine!" Jenna assured Isaac, ignoring the pathetic Garet.

"You don't have to be so blunt…" Garet muttered, scratching the back of his head. Isaac chuckled at this comment.

"All right then. Follow me," Isaac relented. He felt like this was a bad idea, but here they were, on their way to Sol Sanctum, where no one knows what could await them.

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This chapter is already long, but I was planning on including the Sol Sanctum dungeon in this one. I guess I'll have to cut it off here, even though the team did nothing but stand around and talk. (or fail if you count Garet)

I guess Sol Sanctum will be the entire next chapter. Well I guess I'll see you then.


	4. Sol Sanctum Redux

Here we go! Sol Sanctum! I just have to love this full color map of the entire dungeon that I have. Unfortunately, it's the only map I have of anything. If someone could rip/find me more maps, I would be very grateful if you would give me the link.

So...after a bunch of scenes retracing the rooms that Saturos and Menardi went through, we can finally get to some new stuff! Yay!

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"We can't just waltz on up to Sol Sanctum, which could be full of monsters, traps, and who knows what else, wearing nothing but cotton clothing! It just won't work!" Isaac protested, trying to get through to his stubborn friends.

"But, those travel vests are so uncomfortable…" Jenna complained, eyeing the dark green vests hanging on the wall of the weapon and armor shop.

"Not to mention ugly. I mean...it's freaking green!" Garet argued, irritating Isaac.

"Oh I'm sorry, Mr. Garet, I'll make sure to tell your parents why I let you come with me without wearing any armor, and why you ended up getting KILLED by a monster!" Isaac shot back, angry that his friends were being so stupid.

Kraden had given the group some money to stock up on supplies, and he had gone to find a way past the guard who was stopping anyone who wanted to go near Mt. Aleph. Though now Isaac wished Kraden had come with him. At least they would listen to him.

"Well, I see what you mean, but it's not really armor. It's just a vest!" Garet admitted, although he still wasn't giving in.

"It's better than wearing cotton clothing, which is about as good as going shirtless!" Isaac countered.

"Well, we all know the girls would love seeing _me _shirtless," Garet bragged, causing Isaac to facepalm. Jenna smacked him hard in the cheek.

"I agree with Isaac now. You are going to wear that vest!" Jenna ordered.

"Thank you!" Isaac said, relieved that at least _she _could see sense. "Now, I'm going to buy a travel vest for each of us. Now what do we need for weapons?"

"Jenna's got her staff, and we have our shortswords!" Garet replied. Isaac sighed. Without him, these two would get nowhere.

"Garet, those shortswords are over three years old! They are probably rusted by now," Isaac argued.

"Don't worry about me. All I know how to use is this staff," Jenna piped up.

"That's okay, but I think I should get Garet and me both longswords, and wooden shields," Isaac replied. Garet threw his hands up in the air, signaling his defeat.

"AS a matter of fact…Garet? Did you bring those shortswords?" Isaac said, suddenly thinking of something brilliant.

"Yeah sure. Here…" Garet replied, unstrapping both of the shortswords from his belt. Isaac grabbed them, careful to keep his hands away from the rusted blades. Then the blonde approached the shop owner.

"Excuse me. I have some things to sell," Isaac said, getting the owner's attention. Then the blonde placed the two swords on the counter.

"Hmm, they are in pretty bad shape. But I may be able to re-forge them and sell them again. I'll give you fifteen coins each," the owner said after inspecting them. Isaac was disappointed; he was hoping to get maybe 25 coins each. Oh well.

"Deal," Isaac replied, and the exchange was made. "Now, I would like two wooden shields, two longswords, and two travel vests."

The cost totaled at 630 coins, which was a large amount, but Kraden had provided 1000 coins, which left Isaac with 370. After he added the 30 coins he gained from selling the shortswords, that left him with 400. Not bad.

Isaac handed both Garet and Jenna their equipment, and then he began to suit up. The travel vest, which Isaac secretly liked, fit easily over his cotton shirt. The shield went on his left arm, while the longsword was sheathed at his side. Isaac felt ready to take on the world.

"Now, about our psynergy. Are we all charged up? We're going to need it," Isaac asked, because he knew Garet had been training most of today.

"No, maybe I should charge up," Garet muttered, and he headed out the door.

"I'm fine for now," Jenna replied. Isaac nodded, and the two followed Garet out into the plaza.

Garet was at the psynergy stone in the middle of the pool. He pressed his hands on the smooth crystal, and a purple glow surrounded him for a few seconds. Then it vanished almost as soon as it appeared.

"All right. Are we all ready?" Isaac said as Garet came back over. Jenna nodded, and Isaac began to walk up the stairs towards where Kraden said he would meet them.

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The group of three met up with Kraden near a tree that was right outside the pathway that led to Sol Sanctum.

"That guard is going to be a problem," Kraden murmured, pointing. Isaac saw the guard in question.

"Oh, don't worry about him. He often pops behind the healing shrine over there for a nap. We'll just sneak by then. Look, there he goes now," Isaac explained. Sure enough, the others saw the guard yawn and creep behind the shrine. "Go!"

The group of four ran past the shrine as fast as they could, until they were safely in the passageway.

"This is the entrance to Sol Sanctum! This is your first time here, correct?" Kraden asked, looking around at the magnificent entrance to the inside of the sacred mountain. Isaac too was in awe. He had never seen anything like it. This was truly the pinnacle of his ancestors' might.

"Yeah…I…this is amazing!" Isaac whispered. If the entrance itself was this grand, what would the inside look like?

"It's an important relic of our past. Take a good look at it," Kraden continued. Hah, you didn't have to tell Isaac twice.

Isaac stepped forward and climbed the blue tiled staircase until he stood at the entrance. He pushed the double doors open with relative ease.

The floors inside were made of the same strange blue tiling. It was very dark, and it was hard to see.

"I'll get us some light," Jenna whispered. She drew upon her powers as a Fire Adept, also known as a Mars Wielder, and ignited a small ball of fire in her palm. Isaac was impressed, because he had never seen her use her fire powers before. Then, she threw the ball into the air, where it floated gently and casted waves of light over the entire group.

"Saturos said that there was a pit here…oh that must be it," Kraden started. Isaac looked ahead and saw a huge room. There was a pit in the center filled with water.

"Water…will that weaken my psynergy, Kraden?" Garet asked, because he too was a Fire Adept. Isaac himself was an Earth Adept, or Venus Wielder.

" No. Not unless you are fully immersed in it. Which I hope you aren't planning on doing, right?" Kraden answered, gazing accusingly at Garet from over his spectacles.

"What? No!" Garet protested, and then he promptly tripped and fell into the pit of water. "Help!"

Isaac sighed and helped Garet out of the water.

"Watch your step, Garet," Isaac said exasperatedly. Garet shook the water out of his clothing and hair, laughing.

"Hey, at least I got another bath!" he joked.

"Yeah, maybe at least now, you won't smell so bad," Jenna remarked.

"Hey, what?" Garet cried indignantly as Isaac laughed at his expense.

"Come on, children. Saturos said that he hopped over some stepping stones," Kraden said, getting their attention. He was peering in the water intently. "Look! I see some now."

"Hey Garet. Have you ever heard the saying, 'look before you leap'?" Isaac asked meaningfully, earning both a laugh from Jenna and a glare from Garet.

Focusing again, Isaac took the first leap onto a stepping stone. Isaac made sure to look carefully at the water to determine where each stepping stone was. Following the path, Isaac ended up jumping around to the right wall, which he followed to the other side.

"Good Job, Isaac. But there's still a long way to go," Kraden complimented him. Isaac nodded, his mind more focused on the path ahead. He was listening carefully, just in case monsters attacked.

The corridor that followed was long, and very beautiful. As much as Isaac wanted to stop and look, he needed to be alert.

"Saturos said he fought some bats here," Kraden mused at about halfway through the hallway. "But all I see are some mushrooms."

"That won't be too bad," Jenna said, and she started to walk forward. Isaac stepped forward immediately and grabbed her arm.

"Don't! Those are carnivorous. They must have sprouted up here in order to eat the remains of the bats," Isaac barked. Jenna looked down at the seemingly innocent mushrooms in disbelief.

"But they look harmless!" Jenna protested, yet she made no attempt to move forward.

"Garet. They hate fire. Can you try to kill them?" Isaac asked, pointing at the mushroom filled hallway.

Garet nodded and held out his hand. It glowed briefly, and then he swept it across the hall in a slashing motion. A curtain of flames appeared at the left side of the hall and coursed through the entirety of the hall, scorching all of the mushrooms in the hall to death.

"Hah! They stood no chance!" Garet boasted.

"Let's move on," Kraden said, cutting across him.

The hallway soon opened out into another room just like the first. Kraden looked around, nodding as he recognized the surroundings.

"Saturos said that there was a small puzzle here. He took a gem from the center hallway and placed in a Minotaur head, which opened a door in the left passageway," Kraden informed them. Isaac snorted. Deep down, he had been hoping for some puzzles that could test his intelligence. However, it seemed that Saturos and Menardi had done everything already.

Following Kraden's instructions, Isaac led the group across the left passageway. However, unlike Kraden's expectations, there was no doorway.

"Are you sure Kraden?" Garet asked, running his fingers along the smooth tiles.

"Did the puzzles reset somehow?" Isaac suggested.

"Hmm. Interesting. Garet, would you go to the center passageway and see if the gem is there?" Kraden asked. Garet nodded and started to do just that when Jenna stopped him.

"No, I'd think I'd better go. Garet would just trip and fall in the water again," Jenna said. Garet scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

As Jenna jumped away from them, Isaac was left with Kraden and Garet. Isaac was about to ask Garet something when he heard Jenna scream.

Before Garet or Kraden could do a thing, Isaac's sword was out and he was jumping across the stepping stones at lightning speed.

When he reached the center hallway, he saw Jenna backed up against a wall by a large monster made entirely out of slime. Calling upon his stores of psynergy, Isaac's sword began to glow with a yellowish light. Isaac leaped from his stepping stone to the platform, slamming his sword deep into the tiled ground. A shockwave emanated from the ground, sending rock and tile flying until it slammed into the slime monster. The fissure left by the attack disappeared almost as soon as it appeared, leaving the floor untouched.

It let out a watery howl and was lost from sight in the ensuing explosion. Isaac wasn't letting his guard down, and he stood there, sword at the ready, waiting to see if the creature would re-emerge.

A giant green fist materialized from within the smoke and slammed directly into Isaac's chest, throwing the blonde into the water.

"Isaac!" cried Jenna. The smoke gradually cleared to reveal the amorphous green monster, which was seemingly unaffected by Isaac's quake attack.

Isaac coughed and spluttered as he desperately tried to stay above water. It was a miracle that he had missed the stepping stones, because then he would have drowned for sure.

"Isaac! Grab my hand!" Garet said, appearing on the stone nearest to him. Isaac gratefully took the redhead's outstretched hand, and climbed up onto a neighboring stone.

Jenna blasted the monster with a flare from her staff, which actually seemed to hurt it. The limb that she hit, which happened to be its arm, lost its form and melted to the ground and disappeared.

"Fire is its weakness! Garet, hit it with everything you have!" Isaac ordered, pointing his sword at the monster, which was swiping at Jenna with its intact arm. All during this, Kraden was cowering in the left passage.

Garet complied, holding out his hand. A searing hot flare flew forth and went right through the monster, melting it entirely.

"Great shot!" Isaac said, and then he took this opportunity to wring the water out of his travel vest.

"It's about time you started complimenting me," Garet remarked, smiling now that the monster was dead.

"It's about time you started doing something right!" Isaac retorted. Jenna giggled, stepping over the puddle of goo where the monster used to be.

"Kraden, you can come out now, I have the gem!" Jenna called, alerting the bearded scholar.

"All right, head to the right passage and place the gem in the right eye of the Minotaur!" Kraden directed, although he didn't move from his position. Isaac thought that maybe he was watching for the door to appear.

"I'll do this," Isaac said, not willing to risk anyone else's life. However, there was nothing to fear. There was nothing in between him and the Minotaur, so it was simply a matter of hopping over the right path of stepping stones and placing in the gem.

There was a sound of shifting stone, and then Kraden called from his passage. The door had opened.

After some more hopping, which Isaac was really getting sick of, they all regrouped in the newly opened chamber.

The tiles covering the floor were now larger and purple. Statues lined the walls, and the group looked all around in awe. The room was large and rectangular, yet there seemed to be no way out.

Kraden motioned for them to stay put, and he walked forward. Isaac watched as the old scholar cast his gaze around. The blonde noticed that Kraden seemed a bit troubled.

"What's wrong, Kraden?" Isaac asked, taking a step forward.

"Those two said that this room held a hidden passage leading deeper into the sanctum," Kraden answered. "I've been here many times, and I always thought it looked…strange."

"I had always imagined that Sol Sanctum would look different, somehow," Kraden continued. Isaac sighed and let the scholar talk. Man, this guy could go on for hours if you let him.

"What do you mean?" Jenna inquired, walking forward so she could take a look around.

"Sol Sanctum was built in honor of the sun. There should have been something around here that would reflect that," the scholar answered. "I was always puzzled that there wasn't. If there is a hidden passage, then maybe it leads to…well, let's see if we can find it!"

"I think he's serious, Isaac. Should we help him?" Garet asked, looking a little worried. Isaac thought about this. They'd gone far enough to confirm Saturos's presence, so why were they still here? Isaac thought that Kraden was here for more than just busting Saturos and Menardi. Isaac didn't really want to be here. He didn't feel quite worthy enough to walk these fabled halls, yet he couldn't just deny Kraden.

"Fine, but stay together. It's too dangerous to split up," Isaac decided, staring pointedly at Garet, who didn't notice.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Garet exclaimed, pumping his fist in excitement. Kraden nodded, and Isaac began to search the room for this hidden passage.

"Saturos said the right side of the room," Kraden added helpfully. Isaac, who had been going to the left, corrected his course.

Isaac began to examine the statues, since he didn't have any place better to start. Jenna headed to the back of the room with Kraden to look, and Garet was lazy and was leaning against the statue on the far right.

"Garet, you are so useless," Isaac muttered, knocking his fist on the statues to see if any were hollow.

"OH RAMSES!" Garet shouted all of a sudden. Isaac whirled around to see Garet flat on his back in front of a newly revealed door. The statue that had previously occupied that space was now against the right wall.

"Garet, what did you do?" Jenna asked in exasperation, walking towards him with Kraden.

"I leaned against the statue and it…moved," Garet whined, standing back up again and glaring at the offending statue.

"It figures that the laziest member of the group would be the one who found the door," Isaac grumbled, leading the group through the entrance. There was a spiral staircase inside, so Isaac climbed up it, followed by a complaining Garet, who hated stairs. Hah! How can you hate stairs when you live in Vale? They live on a freaking cliff! Isaac resisted the temptation to facepalm.

At the top of the stairs were two passageways, but Kraden told them that they met up later, so Isaac took the right one and the others followed.

The path soon branched out into three passageways.

"One of us should go to the right and fetch the gem there," Kraden said. "The minotaur that needs it is up in the wide room that is found up the middle passage."

"I'll do it," Isaac volunteered, unsheathing his longsword and hefting his shield. Kraden nodded, and led the rest of the group forward. Isaac watched in silence as they vanished into the gloom. Now he was on his own.

Well, there was no sense in standing around. Isaac sighed and set off towards the right. It wasn't long before he began to hear the snarls of monsters ahead. They sounded like those rat creatures. He hadn't seen one since the Boulder fell, yet he could never forget their sound. Isaac checked his psynergy. Isaac was more of a fighter, so he had less psynergy than others. That was the usual attribute of Earth Adepts. He was somewhat drained because of his fight with the slime, so Isaac decided it was better to just use his sword on these creatures.

Isaac turned the corner with a yell, startling the three rats that were guarding the gem. The rat nearest to him ran at him, its jaws open and dripping with drool.

Isaac twirled his sword once while running, and then he rammed it straight into the chest of the running rat. The rat howled in pain before going limp. The other two rats saw the death of their companion and screeched in rage, both charging at the same time.

Isaac pushed the rat off his blade with his shield and faced the two rats. Bending his knees for leverage, Isaac smashed the nearest rat with his shield. The rat squealed and was knocked away to the left. The other rat took the opportunity to slash at Isaac's exposed chest.

Isaac was thankful for his travel vest, as the rat's claws snagged in the material. The blonde was unhurt. In fact, now he was pissed! Isaac head butted the rat in the head, causing it to reel backwards. Then the blonde chopped off the rat's claw that was still snagged in his vest. The rat yelled wordlessly and went back towards the gem to lick its wounds. The other rat, who had been merely stunned, then joined the fight.

As the rat charged forward, Isaac swung his shield to the right, hitting it on the jaw. Then the blonde brought his shield back to the left, hitting the same spot. Then, to finish off the combo, Isaac sliced to the right with his shield, gashing the rat's chest badly. The creature fell to the ground, where it died with a gurgle. The last rat, who was missing a claw, attempted to take Isaac off guard by charging forward suddenly. Isaac sighed and hurled his sword straight at it, impaling it through the middle.

"Hah! I'm getting the hang of this!" Isaac remarked to himself, retrieving his blade and cleaning it on the rat's fur. Then he walked up to the pedestal and grabbed the waiting gem.

Isaac retraced his steps back to the branch and then he followed the path Kraden and the others had taken. Soon, Isaac found himself in the wide room.

The statue on the far left had been moved, presumably by Garet's psynergy. The Minotaur head was there. The one on the far right had been moved too, revealing a blank wall. Kraden, Jenna, and Garet were all standing by the Minotaur.

"I have it!" Isaac announced, catching their attention. For some reason, Jenna cringed.

"Um…Isaac? Why is there a random claw on your vest?" she asked, pointing. Isaac was confused, and then he remembered.

"Oh. Right. I had forgotten," Isaac said, pulling the offending thing off and tossing it into the narrow channel of water than spanned the full room.

Garet stared for a second, and then he began to laugh. Jenna joined him, giggling madly.

"What?" Isaac asked, confused.

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After placing the gem in, the wall on the right opened and the group was on its way. The passageway soon led to a large room that instantly caught Kraden's attention. There was a softly glowing picture of the sun engraved upon the center of the floor, which was surrounded by four statues.

"This is it! We've found it!" Kraden exclaimed, running forward. "Clearly, this is the mark of the sun…the heart of Sol Sanctum!"

"It's just as I'd imagined! Which means those two were telling the truth?" Kraden continued.

"But if what they said was true, then they must have been…" Jenna hinted ominously.

"They were thieves! They came to rob the sanctum!" Garet finished, turning red with anger.

"Come on, let's go back to the village and tell everyone!" Isaac said, and the three began to turn back the way they'd come.

"Wait!" Kraden called. Isaac stopped and sighed. He just knew this would happen.

"What's the matter Kraden?" Garet asked, turning around.

"We're so close…" Kraden whispered, turning around to look at the room.

"Close? Close to what?" Jenna demanded impatiently.

"We've come all the way to the heart of the sanctum. To just turn our backs on it and leave…"Kraden answered vaguely.

"There's…something wrong with that?" Isaac said, determined not to let Kraden stay any longer. They were already breaking the rules.

"Sol Sanctum holds the very foundation of Alchemy! It would just be a waste to…can we just go a little farther?" Kraden begged.

"No. we've broken the rules enough," Isaac replied, turning back towards the way they'd come.

"Isaac, please! I've been waiting for this my entire life! Just let me explore a little bit farther!" Kraden said, stepping towards Isaac.

"Well, maybe a little would be okay," Jenna said, causing Isaac to sigh in exasperation. If Jenna agreed…

"All right fine. But just a LITTLE!" Isaac relented with bad grace.

"Thank you!" Kraden exclaimed. He looked so happy, Isaac could swear he was about to start jumping up and down.

"Let's go then," Isaac muttered, leading the group towards the room that was connected to the sun room.

The next room was the exact same as the last one, only there was a moon instead of a sun.

"Wh…what is this room?" Kraden gasped, looking around. "There's a moon in the center…a picture of Luna. It must represent the night. Hey Isaac, do you think these rooms are connected somehow?"

"Um…yeah. By the hallway?" Isaac suggested, feeling stupid. Kraden laughed somewhat and shook his head.

"These rooms must hide some secret. What does it all mean?" Kraden speculated. "Isaac, can you and the others explore a bit further up the passage? I want to study this room."

Isaac nodded and motioned to Garet and Jenna, who fell in behind him. The blonde led the group south out of the moon room, where another spiral staircase awaited them.

"Whatever you do, DON'T MOVE THE STATUES IN THE MOON ROOM! IT SETS OFF A TRAP!" Kraden hollered after them. Isaac wondered what he meant. However, his questions were answered once he reached the room below.

IT was exactly like the moon room on the top floor, only there was a pool of water surrounding the moon icon. The statues were all out of alignment.

"Kraden said not to move those statues. I wonder why?" Garet mused, looking at the statues.

"Because the world will end in an explosion of fire and brimstone and the seas will swallow the earth," Isaac answered.

"What! Really?" Garet asked, his eyes going wide with terror.

"Hell if I know," Isaac replied, smiling at how gullible his friend was. The blonde led the other two into the next room, which was the same as the watery moon room, only it was the sun. The two statues on the upper side of the room were out of alignment. Kraden said that Isaac couldn't move the statues in the moon room. What about this room?

"Jenna, can you and Garet move that statue on the right?" Isaac asked in a flash of inspiration.

"Sure, but why?" Jenna replied.

"I have a hunch that the trap in the moon room can be disarmed. Moving these statues may help," Isaac explained. As Garet and Jenna labored to carry out his instruction, Isaac went over to the statue on the left. This statue, like all of the others, was shaped like an angel. Unlike the others, it carried a small, blue orb in its hands.

Isaac pushed with all of his might against the sides of the statue, saving his psynergy in case there were more monsters. It moved slowly, but soon Isaac was able to get it into alignment. There was a small click, and a beam of light shot out of the blue orb and illuminated the patch of ground that connected the sun icon to a much larger angel statue that carried a strange, disk like thing. Isaac marveled at the strange mechanism.

As Garet and Jenna pushed the other statue into place, it also shot out a beam of light. When the two beams of light intersected, it somehow opened a hole to…somewhere. This didn't make sense to Isaac, but hey. This is Sol Sanctum. Anything could happen.

"Exactly what did that accomplish?" Jenna asked, peering into the whole. Isaac looked at the big statue and got another idea. The blonde hopped over to the large statue.

Isaac concentrated, and the white hand that was Move appeared. Then he used it to push the large statue towards the hole until it fell in. There was a larger click, and there was a rumble from the moon room that soon died down.

"How did you know to do that?" Garet demanded, looking back towards the moon room.

"I just had a hunch. Now help me move the statues in the moon room back into alignment," Isaac answered, walking back towards the moon room.

"But Kraden said…" Garet began.

"I know what Kraden said. Just trust me on this," Isaac cut across him.

"Okay. If the world dies in brimfire and stones or whatever, it's your fault!" Garet sighed, going back to the moon room.

Jenna looked at Isaac and mouthed "brimfire?" Isaac shrugged and grinned.

The group began to move the statues and nothing seemed to happen until the statues clicked into place.

There was a flash, and the statues all shined beams of light onto the moon icon in the center. To Isaac's surprise, it turned into a sun!

"Excellent work, Isaac!" cried Kraden, who had finally joined them in the chamber. "But where did that hole in the other room come from?"

Garet quickly brought Kraden up to speed with the methods Isaac used. Isaac was actually very proud of himself for figuring this puzzle out.

"Good work! So the moon statues were the trap…and the sun statues were there to…disarm the trap. Now come upstairs with me. I need to show you something," Kraden finished, and then he set off back towards the stairs. Isaac and the others followed, eager to see what had happened.

"Look!" Kraden exclaimed once they were back in the moon room. "The picture of Luna changed to Sol! But other than that, nothing seems to have changed. They went to the trouble of putting a trap here, and this is all that happens?"

"Look back in the other room! The sun is now a moon!" Garet cried, pointing. Kraden looked and smiled widely. He ran into that room and began to look around. Isaac followed him in and stood beside him.

As they all watched, a thin beam of light shot out from the center of the Luna icon on the floor and hit the center of the north wall. Isaac watched in awe as something resembling a portal appeared on the wall.

"This must be it!" Kraden said, and then he ran right into it and disappeared.

"What? Kraden...!" Isaac cried, following him into it. As he entered, it felt like he was passing through a thin membrane of water before he was on the other side. The next thing he saw defied explanation.

Isaac was standing on an island made of a strange, light blue crystal. Surrounding the island was a massive pit filled with bluish black water. Also, countless pillars of the same blue crystal dotted the chasm. At the far end of the cavern was a rocky wall that surrounded the entire area. Looking up, Isaac saw the night sky. With a jolt, he realized that he was at the top of Mt. Aleph…in the crater!

At the edges of the rocky wall were four large platforms set up in a square formation, with each platform forming a corner. Isaac was in the center of the place, so there was a platform straight up and too his right, straight up and to his left, straight back and to his right, and straight back and to his left.

"Wha…where are we?" Kraden exclaimed, gazing around the room in shock. Garet and Jenna emerged from the portal and displayed similar reactions. "Is that the ocean?"

"No, Kraden. Do you see the walls around us?" Isaac replied.

"Yeah, you're right. The ocean has waves," Kraden admitted, and he began to walk around the platform to get a look at the other areas.

"Um…what's an ocean?" Garet asked, scratching the back of his head. Isaac sighed. Garet had obviously slept through school.

"It's a thing of endless water at the end of the world," Kraden replied. Jenna, Garet, and Isaac were confused. Isaac knew what an ocean was, but he couldn't exactly picture what it would look like. "You wouldn't understand. I'll show it to you myself one day."

Kraden began to look at the four corner platforms, and then he started as he saw something.

"The Elemental Stars!" Kraden exclaimed. "They really exist! The Elemental Stars exist!"

"Oh yeah, you told us about those. About how Elements are the foundation of all matter," Jenna recalled, walking up to Kraden curiously.

"Yeah, and you said that everything in this world is made up of a combination of those elements, including wood and stuff," Garet added.

"Exactly!" Kraden said excitedly, turning back to them. "Legend has it that the four Elemental Stars contain the purified essence of each element. And now these stones are before us!"

"What? Where are these…stars?" Isaac said, looking around the room. All he saw were the corner platforms. Then he noticed that each of those platforms held a solitary statue that seemed to glow. The one straight ahead and to the left was glowing a dim yellow.

"That one there is the Venus Star! It contains the essence of Earth! Kraden said, pointing to the yellow one. Isaac suddenly realized that if the yellow one was the Venus Star, then the bluish one on the platform far behind that one was the Mercury Star. That makes the red one the Mars Star, and the purple one the Jupiter Star.

Isaac marveled that after thousands of years, they had been the ones to discover the legendary stones. Who knows how long they'd been here.

"Kraden…why are you getting so excited?" Jenna asked suspiciously.

"How can _you _be so calm in the face of such wonders?" Kraden shot back. "You're looking at the source of all Alchemy! Haven't I told you all of this before?"

"Um…not that I know of. Can you enlighten me?" Isaac said, wondering why this was the source. He knew that the stones were powerful, but the source?

"The Wisdom Stone, also known as the Stone of Sages. It had the power to turn crude matter into gold and even thwart death itself!" Kraden explained. "The study of Alchemy began with the search for this very stone."

"I don't get how any of this works, but…the Stars have enormous power, right?" Jenna conjectured.

"Beyond enormous. With a single gem, one could conquer the world!" Kraden answered. Isaac, for a moment, thought Kraden was kidding, or at least exaggerating.

"Don't scare us like that, Kraden, we totally thought you were serious!" Garet said, voicing what Isaac was suspecting. "Heh…conquering the world…right."

"Who can say what the truth is?" Kraden countered, seemingly unperturbed by Garet's disbelief. "I want to learn the truth about these stones. That's why I've been looking for the Elemental Stars."

"And now they lie before me…" Kraden whispered. Suddenly, he jumped off of the platform onto the nearest crystal pillar.

"Kraden! Be careful!" Isaac yelled, stepping forward in case the old man fell. Kraden seemed to be having trouble balancing. He let out a cry and jumped back towards the main platform near Isaac.

"It looks slippery. Thank goodness you are okay," Jenna fussed, staring at the pillars.

"But I _must _examine the Elemental Stars!" Kraden cried, attempting to jump again. Isaac grabbed his arm gently and held him back.

"Make the boys do it!" Jenna suggested. Isaac and Garet looked at her, surprised.

"Oh I couldn't ask you to…would you mind?" Kraden asked.

"He'd be glad to get the stones for you, right Isaac?" Jenna answered, glancing meaningfully at Isaac. The blonde sighed. Man, he could swear that Jenna knew he liked her and was using it her advantage.

"Fine…" Isaac grunted, stepping in front of Kraden.

"Wait! You will need these bags to hold the Stars. I brought them from my cottage," the scholar said, handing four bags to Isaac. After examining them, Isaac determined in shock that the bags were made of rare mythril!

Isaac motioned for Garet to go with him, and he began to hop from pillar to pillar towards the platform that held the Venus Star. It was surprisingly easy to do so, and soon the blonde stood before the statue.

The Star itself was a round stone the size of Isaac's fist. Reaching forward, the blonde clasped the smooth stone and took it off of its pedestal. The Star was warm to the touch, suggesting that something far hotter was beneath the surface. Also, it seemed to gently vibrate in Isaac's hand. He placed it in the first bag and handed it to Garet to hold.

"Hey, it's the same color as your hair!" Garet joked.

"Yeah, yeah," Isaac muttered.

Suddenly, the room began to flash with a dim yellow light and began to rumble. It wasn't a strong rumble, and it soon faded away. Then more crystal pillars shot up out of the black water in seemingly random locations. However, Isaac saw a path being formed to the next Elemental Star.

The two boys jumped across the new path of pillars until they stood upon the second platform, which held the glowing blue Mercury Star. Isaac took it off of its pedestal. It was cold to the touch, but Isaac placed it in another bag and gave it to Garet.

The room flashed and rumbled again, and more pillars shot up from the water, presenting a path to the next Star.

"I'm getting sick of jumping," Garet complained as the two continued across the pillars.

The Jupiter Star was cool the touch, as Isaac discovered when he retrieved it. A strange breeze began to blow over his hand when he did so. Unnerved, he dropped it in the bag and handed it to Garet,

The room rumbled and flashed and more pillars erupted. Before he moved on, Isaac cast his gaze around the room as he tried to catch his breath. Yes, there was the last Star in the distance, and there were the four figures that were Kraden and Jenna. Isaac's gaze shot back to the main platform.

"Garet! Look!" Isaac shouted, running to the edge of the Jupiter Star's platform. Garet did so, and the group saw that Kraden and Jenna were no longer alone.

Standing on the platform and holding weapons to the necks of Kraden and Jenna were Saturos and Menardi.

MERCURY MERCURY MERCURY MERCURY MERCURY MERCURY MERCURY MERCURY MERCURY

That was a long chapter. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but most of you (except my friends) already know what's going to happen. I had to ask one of my friends if I should have merged this chapter with my last chapter, and I ended up splitting the two. I'm glad I did, because then chapter three would have been HUGE!

It took me more time to do this chapter because I had to prepare for my grandparents to come over. Therefore I had chores, chores, and more chores. And did I mention I had chores? Anyway, this chapter is finally finished, and the encounter with the bad-ass Saturos and Menardi will unfold in the next chapter.

**CreativeJournalist: **You have reviewed all of my chapters so far, so I am commending you and dedicating this chapter to you.

**Kamec: **You may not have reviewed, but I want to thank you for reading this faithfully despite my constant rants and demands. You know who you are.


	5. Eruption

Apparently there were some technical difficulties with the last chapter, so it wasn't up until late that night. Sorry about that. However, I get to write about a scene with my favorite villain characters! Saturos, Menardi, and pals.

ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY

"Hmph, it looks like they've spotted us," Saturos observed.

"Damn. I thought we would be safe until they'd taken all of the Elemental Stars," Menardi cursed. Kraden gulped slightly from behind Menardi's scythe.

"You mean to steal them!" he accused.

"Master Kraden…are you calling us thieves when you know so little about us?" Saturos shot back, his grip loosening on Jenna.

"As I recall, aren't you the one who stole our information?" Menardi countered, earning an awkward silence from Kraden.

"What are you going to do with us once you have what you want?" Jenna asked meekly.

"I'm sure they'll kill us once they no longer need us," Kraden replied before Saturos could answer.

"Relax. You will not be hurt," sounded a new, deep voice. Kraden and Jenna turned their heads slightly until they could see the portal.

A tall man with long brown hair wearing dark brown clothing and a blue cape materialized from within the light. His face was covered by an imposing mask, and an axe was strapped to his side.

"That was our agreement, was it not?" the man continued, turning to Saturos and Menardi.

"That depends on how well they cooperate," Saturos replied, seemingly unsurprised by the man's sudden appearance.

"They'll be safe. As long as they hand over the Elemental Stars," Menardi promised. "Isn't that enough?"

"Who the heck is that guy?" Garet whispered to Isaac, pointing to the new arrival. Isaac shrugged and continued listening. Then Saturos turned and looked directly at them.

"You heard us. If you wish to save them, then you must hand us all the Elemental Stars!" Saturos called.

Isaac cursed loudly and turned to Garet. What the hell were they going to do now?

"Of course. We do all the damn work, and they are the ones who benefit!" Isaac yelled. "Fine! But you better let my friends go!"

"No, Isaac! You must not give them the Elemental Stars!" Kraden screamed over.

"Why would you deny us? Don't you want to remain living?" Saturos asked, his tone calm, but frightening.

"What guarantee do we have once we've given you what you want?" Kraden replied, staring Saturos directly in the eye.

"Guarantee…ah! I have one!" Menardi said suddenly, turning towards Kraden and the mysterious man.

"You will have to remove your mask," Menardi said to the man, who started.

"Th…that means," the man stammered.

"Ah, of course. A fine idea. He will be our guarantee," Saturos agreed, looking at the man. "Under the circumstances, we have little choice. Felix, remove your mask."

"What? What did he say, Isaac?" Garet cried, looking at Isaac in shock. Isaac was feeling similar. It was impossible, but could it really be…

"He called that guy Felix! That is what he said right?" Garet continued.

"Last time I checked, we're not deaf," Isaac answered.

"But…the Boulder…I saw him die…" Garet stammered.

"What's wrong, Felix? Don't you want them to feel safe?" Menardi demanded of the large man. The man remained silent, as if thinking about this.

"Felix. Wasn't that the name of your brother?" Kraden asked Jenna, who looked as if she was in shock.

"But the accident…my brother…" Jenna protested, although she had trouble getting the words to come out of her mouth. There was a silence, and no one said a word. Isaac looked from Saturos and Menardi to the masked man. The atmosphere was tense as the room waited for an answer.

"I'll…I'll do it. I'll take off my mask," the masked man spoke up, breaking the silence. His gloved hand reached up towards the mask and unstrapped it. He made no move as it fell to the ground. The face that was revealed was both familiar and menacing. Felix, the boy who had drowned three years ago, stood tall before them.

"It's…it's not possible," Jenna whispered, staring at her older brother in shock.

"I know I've caused you much grief, Jenna," Felix said, his face nearly emotionless as he stared at his sister.

"We are the ones who saved him," Saturos asserted, glancing at Menardi, who nodded.

"We saw him floating unconscious in the river as we passed," Menardi added. "He was scratched and bruised, but it was nothing we couldn't heal."

"I've traveled with them ever since. I've learned a lot," Felix finished.

"My own brother…I thought you were dead!" Jenna yelled at him, anger overcoming her shock. Isaac too was angry, but he was too far away to be heard over the conversation taking place. Felix should have at least sent a message.

"Jenna, I…" Felix began.

"Why did you leave me all alone?" Jenna cut him off, glaring.

"Oh save the teary reunion for later," Saturos interrupted.

"Then take your blade away from my sister," Felix told him, his voice as hard as steel. Saturos smiled somewhat, and he did so, sheathing his blade.

"That's fine. I can fight just as well without one," Saturos said.

"You can reminisce later. The Elemental Stars come first!" Menardi yelled over to Isaac and Garet.

"Is this acceptable? Felix would never allow us to harm you…or his sister," Saturos asked, looking over at Isaac.

"Felix will be our guarantee. Now…give us the Elemental Stars!" Menardi finished.

"What do we do, Isaac?" Garet asked, turning to the blonde, who was deep in thought.

"We don't have a choice. Give them the Elemental Stars," Isaac sighed, handing the three full bags to Garet. The redhead nodded solemnly and hopped over the path of pillars towards the main platform. However, once he reached one of the larger pillars, another man appeared directly in front of him in a whirlwind of deep blue water.

"HOLY RAMSES!" Garet screamed, nearly falling off of the pillar. "Don't scare me like that!"

This new man was even more intimidating. This man wore black leather armor reinforced with plate mail, coupled with his long black cape. What was even stranger about him was his long blue hair. Isaac had never before seen anyone with that color hair, so he was confused.

"My apologies. Will you permit me to relieve you of those Elemental Stars?" the man said in a smooth voice, his blue eyes gleaming in the light.

"Oh, Alex! You're late!" Saturos said, unsurprised. "Hand the Stars to him."

"Great. After we did all that work," Garet grumbled, handing the bags to Alex.

"I'm afraid I must apologize in advance," Alex said. "For you will be b ringing us the remaining Elemental Star as well."

"What? You want us to grab the other one for you, too?" Garet demanded.

"Oh, did you not understand me?" Alex replied, his expression remaining neutral.

"You said you'd set Jenna and Kraden free after we brought you the Elemental Stars!" Garet reminded, outraged that the group was breaking their agreement.

"No, my friend. We want you to bring us ALL the Elemental Stars!" Saturos corrected.

"Stop grumbling and get the last Star!" Menardi shouted, her patience wearing thin. Garet groaned and hopped back to Isaac. Alex smirked and rose into the air using some strange power and flew back to the main platform.

"Man this is just not my day," Isaac grumbled as he started to hop across the new path of pillars to the resting place of the Mars Star.

The stone was just resting there, so Isaac removed it from its place. It was very hot, which was expected due to the fire element within. It started to burn his fingers, so Isaac dropped it in the bag with a yelp. This time, the room flashed red and rumbled. However, the rumbling didn't stop this time.

"Isaac! What's happening?" Garet yelled, throwing himself to the floor as the room shook. Isaac didn't answer, because he was too busy hanging on to the statue.

There was an explosion from within the water, and the liquid began to quickly drain out of the crater.

Isaac peeked over the edge to see that the crater was now completely dry, and that cracks were appearing in the newly revealed ground. Glowing magma began to seep forth.

"What's the matter? What happened?" Menardi screamed and held on to the side of the wall that held the portal back.

"Not another trap!" Saturos shouted as he fell to the floor. Alex rose in the air in order to avoid the rumbles, while Jenna, Kraden, and Felix threw themselves to the floor and held on.

"Where did all the water go?" Jenna yelled.

"Without the energy of the Elemental Stars, the chamber is collapsing!" Alex observed.

"If you disturb the Sanctum, then terrible retribution awaits!" Kraden quoted. "Is this it? Is this our punishment? No, this is more of Alchemy's power!"

"I don't care what it is, but it's about to kill us!" Isaac shouted over the quake. "Hold on, Garet!"

The rumbling slowly ceased to a bearable level, but Isaac could still feel the ground shift beneath his feet.

"Whew, it's over. What was it?" Menardi mused, peering over the edge into the newly made magma pit.

"Wait, what is that?" Jenna screamed, pointing in alarm. All looked to see a disturbance in the magma. From within emerged a giant hand made of rock. Another soon followed.

"A monster?" Saturos suggested.

When the head emerged, it wasn't much to look at other than a sphere of rock with a single eye set into the center.

"That…that rock….it looks alive! What is it?" Garet asked.

"It looks like a golem, but it's much bigger than that!" Isaac conjectured.

"Could that be…the Wise One?" Kraden whispered.

"Such power…incredible!" Alex admired, staring in awe.

"It must be the guardian of the Elemental Stars mentioned in the legends!" Saturos deduced.

"This doesn't look good. Maybe we should leave while we can," Felix suggested, heading towards the still open portal.

"We need the Mars Star! We can't leave it behind," Menardi protested, pointing right at Isaac.

"I agree with Felix. We're no match for the guardian," Alex spoke up.

"The Mars Star will have to wait for another day," Saturos admitted.

"You can't just leave Isaac and Garet out there!" Jenna beseeched, walking up to Saturos.

"Forget about them. They won't make it out alive," Saturos rebuked coldly.

"But Saturos, there's a chance that they might survive," Menardi protested.

"I'm standing right here, thank you!" Isaac shouted over at them, annoyed about being spoken about like he wasn't there. However, he was ignored.

"What do you suggest we do?" Saturos said irritably.

"We take this "Jenna" with us... If they survive, they will want her back. And if they want her back, they will bring us the Star. Regardless, Kraden must come with us. He is connected to all of this," Alex suggested.

"Alex…are you breaking our promise?" Felix demanded, his hand going dangerously close to his axe.

"Conditions have changed since we made that promise," Alex replied coolly.

"Jenna's not any part of this! I won't let you hurt her!" Felix shouted, taking out his battle axe and holding it aggressively. Isaac looked upon this with interest. It seemed like Felix wasn't truly with them.

"Would you rather we leave her?" Menardi demanded, motioning to the surfacing guardian.

"Perhaps we should continue this elsewhere, Felix," Alex suggested sensibly. "Let us go now."

The group on the main platform then proceeded through the portal, leaving Isaac and Garet behind on the Mars Star's platform.

"Well, this turned out badly, wouldn't you say?" Garet said casually, eyeing the giant golem that was turning towards them.

"DAMMIT! I HATE those two bastards!" Isaac shouted.

"Do you think they'll hurt Jenna or Kraden?" Garet asked timidly.

"Of course they will. They nearly destroyed our village. Why should they care about an old man and a girl?" Isaac affirmed.

"Well, thanks for the comfort," Garet said sarcastically. "But seriously, Felix is with them, he wouldn't let them get hurt. Come on, let's get out of here."

Isaac couldn't move, because in front of him was the large golem, its single eye fixed upon him.

"Hey, Isaac…Isaac, I'm over here…let's go," Garet called from the edge of the platform. Then he turned to see what Isaac was staring at and yelped. Suddenly, a deep, kindly voice echoed from within Isaac's head.

"_Why are you standing there? This place has become dangerous_," the voice said. Isaac determined that the voice must be coming from the Guardian.

"You're the dangerous one!" Garet shot back.

"Garet…shut up!" Isaac hissed to the redhead. Garet was the least diplomatic one of the two.

Suddenly, a plume of lava shot out of the rising magma. The rumbling began to increase. The Guardian began to glow with a bluish light, and the rumbling ceased. The Guardian looked back at them, the light fading. Isaac didn't understand. Was the Guardian…saving them?

"_The volcano will soon erupt. I cannot hold it for long. You must leave this place," _the Guardian boomed. Suddenly, several red balls of light shot up from the Mars statue. "_Troubling. It seems that now that the Elemental Stars are moving away from us, the Elemental Djinn are no longer sealed."_

Isaac looked around the crater to see the same thing happening from the other statues. The Mercury statue shot up several blue balls, the Jupiter statue sent up several purple balls, and the Venus statue sent up several yellow balls.

_"Without the power of the Elemental Stars to contain it, the magma flows freely again. There will be no chamber for the Stars to return to, so the world will be exposed to the threat of Alchemy," _the Guardian continued.

"Alchemy? Why is it a threat?" Isaac asked. That went against everything Isaac had been taught. Why was the great, wondrous power that he had learned about a threat?

"_It can be a dangerous power if it is misused... If the Elemental Stars ignite the flames of the four lighthouses, that power will be released. As long as the four lighthouses remain unlit..." _the Guardian answered. "_One last thing. Show me the Mars Star."_

There was a silence as Isaac reached into the only mythril bag he had and pulled out the glowing red gem. The Guardian's eye stared at it and the golem glowed with the tell tale light of psynergy. However, the psynergy was more powerful that anything Isaac had ever senses. The Mars Star glowed with a bright red light for a second before becoming normal again. Isaac was confused: what had just happened?

_"Return it to its bag," _the Guardian ordered. Isaac did so gladly, because the gem was quickly burning his skin._  
_

There was another explosion as compressed gas was finally set free by the collapsing crater. The magma began to rise again. The Guardian glowed and the rising magma slowed, but didn't stop.

"_The volcano is erupting. Flee now!" _the Guardian ordered.

"How?" Isaac shouted. The Guardian's eye flashed, and Isaac abruptly found himself at the entrance to Sol Sanctum. Disoriented, he looked around.

"Did that…golem…thing just save us?" Garet asked incredulously, still not believing where he was. Isaac looked up at Mt. Aleph, which was spouting ash and dust from the crater.

"I think so," Isaac whispered. The blonde's eyes widened as he spotted glowing red lava flows emerging from the crater and oozing down the mountain. "Let's move!"

Garet and Isaac ran down the pathway back towards the village, wondering exactly how they were going to explain all of this to the elders. Speaking of which, practically the entire population of the village was crowded around the entrance to the village.

"Uh-oh. Grandpa and the others are here. Should we find a way around them?" Garet whispered, kneeling behind a tree.

"It doesn't matter. They already know we were mountain climbing. It's too late to hide," Isaac muttered, although he was not happy about it.

"I guess you're right," Garet said. Then the two jumped as Mt. Aleph emitted an explosion so large, it deafened all nearby.

Isaac and Garet, their heads held high, walked right towards the crowd of villagers. Garet's brother and sister were there at the front. His grandfather, the mayor was there too, standing next to Isaac's mother, Dora.

Their names were called by too many people to be properly identified, so Isaac merely stood still as he was surrounded by the villagers happy to see him and Garet return safe.

"Come over here, both of you," the mayor ordered. Isaac was irritated at his tone, which clearly indicated that he thought that they were involved somehow in the eruption. The mayor shooed off most of the villagers so that Isaac could get some breathing room. Soon, the only ones close enough to talk to him was Aldric, the village's Grand Healer; Dora, and the mayor.

"Where have you two been?" The mayor demanded.

"What happened up there?" Aldric asked.

"Weren't Jenna and Kraden with you?" Dora inquired. Isaac held up a hand to stop the questions.

"I was up at Sol Sanctum, chasing two thieves. Kraden and Jenna were taken by said thieves. It's a hell of a long story," Isaac summarized, telling as much truth as he could right now.

"This looks to be very complicated," the Aldric deduced. "However, we need to know everything that happened up in the mountain. All of you come into the healing shrine. I'll deal with the villagers."

The villagers of Vale as a whole were a very trusting people. They didn't trust outsiders, of course, but to everyone within, they were practically an extended family. Thus, the elders didn't question what Isaac and Garet had to say. Their story was taken in by the three listeners, and it was further cemented when Isaac produced the Mars Star.

"The true Sanctum…we had no idea," the mayor said in awe after the story was finished.

"Jenna and Kraden are prisoners?" Dora gasped, horror struck at the thought that someone would be evil enough to take one of their villagers hostage. Isaac was very angry that Jenna was taken hostage. In fact, Isaac had sworn that one day, he would sink his blade deep into the heart of Saturos.

"Yes, unfortunately. No one should be taken against their will," Isaac answered. Tired of carrying it around, Isaac lowered his shield to the floor. Garet did the same.

"Do you think they can be saved?" the mayor asked.

"I know they can. Felix is with them," Isaac said confidently. "He will protect them."

"What is it, Aldric? You have been very quiet," Dora asked, approaching the bearded man, who was facing the wall.

"That golem…the one that appeared before Isaac," Aldric replied, turning back to face the room.

"What about it? Have you heard of it?" the mayor asked Aldric.

"Even now, I can see it in my mind's eye. As you talked, it spoke to me. It must be the Wise One, the guardian of the Elemental Stars," Aldric continued. Isaac and Garet looked at the healer in shock. Of course, it was part of the job of the Grand Healer to interpret visions and dreams given to it by the gods, so this wasn't much of a surprise. The real shock was that if the Wise One was able to communicate this way to Aldric, than it must be a god itself!

"It told me all that happened to you in Sol Sanctum," Aldric added.

"Then what did it say about the eruption? How long do we have until the flows destroy us?" Isaac spoke up. As if on cue, the ground shook violently for a brief period of time.

"The eruption cannot be stopped now, but the Wise One has assured me that he will prevent the lava from reaching us," Aldric answered. Isaac let out a sigh of relief. The others exhibited similar reactions as they heard the good news.

"However, something even more dreadful than Vale's destruction looms ahead," Aldric predicted ominously.

"What could be worse than the destruction of Vale?" Garet asked rhetorically, scoffing. Isaac smacked his friend lightly on the arm, signaling for him to shut up.

"The Elemental Stars that we have been guarding for so long house and incredible, terrible power. The four Elemental Lighthouses contain the means to loose that power upon the world. Should this come to pass, the whole world will…" Aldric explained, faltering at the last second. A silence permeated the room as everyone in the room thought about his words.

"The Wise One wants us to get the Elemental Stars back, doesn't he?" Dora deduced, though she sounded like she didn't want to hear the answer.

"The world is ours to save or to destroy," Aldric answered cryptically. "However, I fear our inaction may bring about its destruction."

Surprised, everyone in the room turned to one another. To Isaac, things had suddenly become very overwhelming. He did not understand how it had gone from stopping thieves to the world being destroyed. Isaac reclined against a wall.

"What can _we _do?" Dora demanded, breaking the silence. Aldric walked slowly across the room towards Isaac and Garet. Garet hit Isaac lightly on the arm. Isaac opened his eyes to see the Grand Healer standing right in front of him.

"You are the ones who discovered them, so you should be the ones the retrieve them," Aldric said calmly. Isaac sighed heavily, though he wasn't surprised at his suggestion. He was the one who lead Saturos and Menardi up to the top of the volcano, anyway.

"Are you suggesting that we place the fate of the world in the hands of Isaac and Garet?" Dora asked incredulously. Aldric nodded solemnly.

"What, you don't think we can do it?" Garet shot back indignantly.

"Aldric, they are only children! You cannot expect them to bear such a burden…" the mayor protested, though Isaac knew that when he said "they" he really meant Garet. He was the mayor's grandson after all.

"The Wise One has spoken. These two teenagers share responsibility in this event, so they must decide," Aldric finished. The mayor sighed in defeat and gazed at Isaac and Garet.

"Heck, I don't know what to do. I guess I'll do whatever you do, Isaac," Garet replied almost immediately. Isaac sighed as every eye in the room turned to him. He thought about this. Saving the world and whatever seemed too cheesy and cliché, like in every story his mother had ever told him in his childhood. However, here he was, being asked to do just that. Isaac didn't feel like he was capable of saving everything. However, if by leaving the village, he could save Jenna and kill Saturos, then…

"I'll do it. I'll track down Saturos and return the Elemental Stars," iIsaac answered confidently. Beside him, Garet winced. Dora seemed very proud as she gazed at Isaac, who was meeting Aldric's eyes confidently.

"Isaac, you really can't mean that," Garet pleaded. Isaac looked at him, surprised. Maybe Garet was just worried, because Isaac knew that Garet was no coward.

"Garet, you chose to leave your decision to Isaac. There will be no further discussion," the mayor interrupted angrily. Garet went quiet immediately, gulping nervously.

Suddenly, Aldric began to convulse. Eyes turned to the Grand Healer as he shook, making choking sounds as he did so. Confused, Isaac ran to his side in an attempt to steady him, but Dora grabbed his arm.

Aldric's eyes flew open and changed to a dark red color. Red light exploded soundlessly from his eyes, illuminating a spot above the fireplace. As Isaac watched, the head of the Wise One materialized in the light.

"_You two are quite brave to take on this quest," _the Wise One spoke. Isaac realized that the golem must have possessed Aldric, which further proved its godhood. "_I will be watching you. Choose your destiny wisely." _

With that, the Wise One faded from the room, taking the red light with it. Aldric was soon back to normal, albeit a little shaken.

"Grand Healer, are you all right?" the mayor asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. I gave the Wise One permission to use my body so he could communicate better," Aldric assured them.

"So that was the Wise One?" Dora mused, her eyes alight with wonder.

"You must find the Elemental Lighthouses and prevent Saturos and Menardi from lighting them using any means necessary," Aldric advised. Isaac nodded, looking at Garet. Garet looked slightly pale, which any normal person would be like after learning that the fate of the world was in his hands. Done, the Grand Healer slowly walked out of the Healing Shrine.

"Well, I'm not sure I like sending off children without help or direction…" the mayor muttered, approaching Isaac and Garet.

"Well, it's not like we have much of a choice," Isaac reminded the old man.

"When are you planning to go?" Dora asked, standing next to the mayor.

"It doesn't seem like we are allowed to wait," Isaac replied. "I think tomorrow would be the best idea. After all, we are already packed and ready."

"Oh right!" Garet piped up. "We didn't know how long we would be in Sol Sanctum, so we packed traveling herbs and equipment."

"So be it then," the mayor said resignedly.

ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY

The village of Vale was surprisingly empty. Houses were left empty and chores were left undone, for the villagers had something more important to attend to.

"Where is everyone?" the little girl asked innocently of the small boy near her.

"What didn't you hear?" the boy asked incredulously. "Isaac and Garet are leaving on a journey, so everyone is saying goodbye."

"We should say goodbye too!" the girl said, and she grabbed the boy's arm and ran with him to the front gate, where the rest of the village was gathering.

Isaac hugged Garet's sister, Kay, warmly. Isaac's and Garet's families were very close, and they were very sorry to see him go. As Kay let go, she pressed a traveling herb into his hand.

"For luck," she whispered. Isaac nodded, smiling at her.

"Thank you," he replied. Kay nodded and moved to Garet, whom she hugged less enthusiastically.

"I still haven't forgotten those flowers," she whispered, and Garet blanched. "and don't eat the wildlife!"

"I know how to survive out there!" Garet protested, and his little brother Aaron, who was nearby, sniggered.

"Don't listen to him, Isaac! He'll eat anything that's not tied down!" the boy cried. Isaac laughed at the look on Garet's face.

"Where the heck is Dora?" a random villager fussed. Isaac frowned. He had noticed that his mother had not arrived, but he said nothing.

"Oh right!" Aaron cried, walking over to Isaac. "Auntie Dora asked me to give this to you."

Isaac looked at Aaron's outstretched hand to see three beads about the size of marbles tied together with a string. They constantly emitted a bright green light.

"Isaac, are those…"Garet started. Isaac stared in wonder at the precious artifact that was in the boy's hands. Those were the Catch Beads.

Isaac took the beads from Aaron. The beads were one of the many rare items that contained a particular psynergy within. By studying them, one could learn to use this psynergy without needing the presence of the item. This particular item held the power of "Catch," which was a unique psynergy capable of grabbing distant objects and bringing them back to the caster. The fact that Dora had given these to him showed just how much she trusted him. Isaac now felt really good about himself.

Isaac thanked Aaron and pocketed the beads. He would study them on the road.

"I guess we're all set to go," Garet said.

"Think again!" Kay interrupted. Garet sighed and turned back to his sister. "Stay alive for us. That goes double for you, Isaac. Your mother has no one left in the world but you."

"I understand. Tell her I will return. I swear it," Isaac replied.

"You can't keep standing here, or you'll never leave," the mayor grouched. "Off you go. Go on!"

Isaac nodded and turned towards the gate, walking forward. The villagers called farewell as the two teenagers ventured out of the city gates to save the world…or die trying.

ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY

GOD this was a hard chapter to type out. The whole explaining part got me stuck for a while until I beat the Lost Age, which got me all inspired again. Man the Doom Dragon battle was awesome. A couple rounds of Death Leap, Quickstrike, Freeze Prism, and Nettle took the thing down easily. I was around level 60 because I spent a lot of time fighting Wonder Birds and Cruel dragons.

Anyway, now I can leave the script behind for a while and make my own dialogue!


	6. Onward to Vault

Good. Now it's time to add my own dialogue to this story. Now that the prologue is over, the storyline isn't as rigid as before and I can add my own bits in there, such as developing romance and stuff. Not that there's going to be any of that in this chapter. No, this chapter will be of traveling the world map!

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Vale itself was sandwiched between two major mountain ranges, giving only two exits: north to Sol Sanctum, or south to the rest of the continent. Isaac and Garet, as they departed the village, took the only path they could and now stood not far from the entrance of Vale, planning their next move.

Isaac was ruffling through his pack, attempting to make an educated guess of exactly how long they could travel without running out of food or water by counting their current supplies. While he did this, Garet was examining the map, trying to determine where they should head next.

"Man, this map is useless! How are we supposed to know where there are settlements?" Garet complained. "Weyard is gigantic, and all this map shows are two settlements!"

"Maybe two or three weeks…no, we'd need more food," Isaac murmured. "What now, Garet?"

Garet repeated his complaint now that Isaac was paying attention.

"Easy. The one other settlement it shows is Vault right?" Isaac started. Garet nodded. "We'll just ask for directions to other settlements there. Now how do we get to Vault?"

Garet began to examine the map again, trying to determine the shortest route to Vault.

"Well, all we have to do is head straight north, past the forests, and then we head west and cross the bridge…" Garet began. As he spoke, Isaac crossed his arms and stared in disbelief at the hapless Garet.

"Garet," Isaac interrupted. "Give me the map."

Confused, Garet stopped talking and gave the blonde the map, which didn't show all of Weyard, merely the upper half of Angara. Glancing pointedly at Garet, Isaac turned the map right-side up.

"Oh…now I feel stupid," Garet muttered.

"You should. What we are supposed to do is head down south and weave around the forests. The bridge leading to Vault is over to the east," Isaac corrected.

"All right, I get it," Garet said. "Let's go. We're wasting daylight here."

As this was the first sensible thing Garet had said today, Isaac obliged and the two began their journey. The path was easy to follow, as there was a dirt trail serving as a road.

The trail itself was studded with rocks and roots from the forests that crowded either side of the path, so Isaac's feet became sore after the first hour. Garet complained constantly, but soon after a rebuke from Isaac, he stopped. The group soon became aware of something strange occurring in the landscape, but they weren't able to put a finger on it.

"Hang on, something seems different," Isaac said after the second hour. "Where are all the birds and the bees?"

"You're right, I can't hear anything," Garet agreed after listening. This seemed suspicious to the two, so they drew their longswords and hefted their shields.

A rustling erupted in the forests on either side of the road, startling the two. With a snarl, two rat creatures erupted from each the forests on either side. One rat landed on top of Garet and began to claw at his vest. Isaac saw the other one coming and slashed his longsword to the right, killing the rat before it could land.

Then, Isaac bashed the second rat near him with his shield. The blonde then looked to Garet. The redhead suffered a cut on his cheek from the rat's claw before he reoriented himself. Garet clamped both of his hands on the rat's head and concentrated. Powerful heat waves radiated from his palms, and the rat reeled back off of him, screeching in pain. However, it didn't end there. Its head continued to heat up, and its screech soon became something like a gurgle as its skin began to melt off of its head. Soon, the rat was dead on the ground, its body completely intact except for its head, which was nothing but a skull.

Isaac saw the other rat advancing on Garet from his left side, so the blonde hurled his longsword and impaled the rat. He quickly made sure to retrieve it afterwards.

"Thanks Isaac. You really…what the heck is THAT?" Garet exclaimed. From within the forest came two people, only they weren't exactly alive anymore. They shambled on bony feet towards the pair, staring at them with their empty eye sockets. Blood steadily oozed from their joints, where gleaming white bones protruded from the rotting skin.

"What happened to them?" Isaac asked as the abominations came closer.

"Shouldn't dead people…_stay _dead?" Garet said nervously. A horribly distorted groan emanated from the slack jawed zombie on the right. The other reached out its hands, where its fingernails had somehow contorted into fierce claws.

"Come get some!" Isaac yelled, and he charged forward. His longsword glowed yellow, and then he slammed it to the ground. A shockwave consisting of superheated air and shards of rock emanated from the blade and slammed into the two zombies, sending them to the ground.

"Nice shot!" Garet commented, but his grin soon died as the pair of zombies moaned again and stood again. Isaac was surprised. How did they survive his quake?

Garet grunted and sent a searing fireball at the nearest zombie. The zombie groaned as it began to burn. However, the creature kept coming.

"Well, that didn't work out so well," Garet observed as the now flaming undead approached him.

"Try to decapitate them," Isaac suggested. Garet nodded, and the pair rushed to combat the seemingly invincible zombies.

Isaac reached his zombie and slashed left and right. The zombie stumbled as a bloody x appeared on its chest. Then he went for its head, but the zombie lifted its claws and blocked the slice with astonishing strength. Then, with the other claw, the zombie lifted Isaac up and threw him all the way across the road and into a tree on the other side.

Pain exploded in Isaac's back, and he cried out. Garet had better luck. He sliced off the legs of his zombie, sending it to the ground. Then he finished it by taking off its head. When Garet saw Isaac being thrown, he roared in anger. The redhead sprinted forward and took off the second's head with a mighty cleave.

"Thanks, Garet. You're a lifesaver," Isaac groaned, rising to his feet.

"Those…things…are tough to take down," Garet stated. "What in the world caused these people to rise again?"

"I've never heard of such a thing ever occurring. I guess we'll have to assume that it was caused by the eruption," Isaac guessed.

"What? How?" Garet asked.

"This is Mt. Aleph, the greatest source of Alchemy. When it erupted, I'm sure its power spread somewhat," Isaac explained. Garet nodded, and the two continued their travels.

However, they soon made camp for the night as the sun dipped below the horizon. Garet gathered some wood and made a small fire, so that Isaac could cook a small stew made from herbs and cold meat that they had brought from Vale.

They ate in silence, contemplating the previous battle. Rat monsters roaming the world, and dead men coming back to life; what was going to happen next?

Isaac decided to take first watch, so he watched as Garet rolled out a sheet of fabric that would serve as his bed. When the redhead was sound asleep, Isaac took out the Catch Beads from his pocket and began to study them. The blonde cleared his mind and reached out to the beads, feeling their power brush up against his mind. This was how he was going to learn the power contained within. This was how Isaac spent his watch until it was time for Garet to wake up.

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"Wake up, Isaac. I hear something," Garet said anxiously, shaking the blonde gently. Isaac rose from his bedroll, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. The moon was high in the sky, and it was almost pitch black except for the fire that was still burning.

"What is it?" the blonde murmured.

"I don't know, but something has been circling our camp for a while now. It's making me uneasy," Garet answered. Isaac drew his sword and stood up.

A twig snapped nearby, and Isaac jumped.

"There!" Garet cried, pointing at the forest. From within the trees, a strange creature emerged. It was short and squat, looking almost like a toad, only it had a reptilian tail and two bright blue eyes without pupils. Its skin looked strangely smooth and yellow.

"What the hell is that thing?" Garet asked. Isaac shrugged.

"_Well, that's not very polite," _sounded a sarcastic voice from within Isaac's mind.

"Who said that?" Isaac demanded.

"Was that you?" Garet asked of the creature.

"_Of course it was me! Who do you think it was, the two zombies you re-killed yesterday" _the creature answered.

"Have you been following us?" Isaac interrogated, clutching his sword tightly.

"_Well, yeah. Anyone using psynergy is a matter of interest to me," _the creature responded. Garet and Isaac looked at one another. This thing knew what psynergy was?

"What are you?" Isaac asked.

"_I am a Venus Djinni, only recently freed from my prison in Mt. Aleph. You may call me Flint," _the creature replied, seeming very patient with them.

"A Djinni! Didn't the Wise One talk about them?" Garet asked.

"I saw all of the Djinn disappear in Mt. Aleph," Isaac mused. Flint listened to their reactions passively.

"_Oh, so that was you I saw in Mt. Aleph before I fled. You have my thanks for freeing me," _the Djinni commented.

"So why have you been following us?" Isaac asked.

"_I was searching for people proficient with psynergy who could lead me to the other Djinn," _Flint clarified. "_I was hoping you would take me with you. I can help you on the way."_

Garet and Isaac looked at one another skeptically. This toad looking thing, despite being a Djinni, did not look like it could even walk, let alone fight.

"I doubt you could help much," Isaac said, voicing their concerns. Flint hopped once, indignant.

"_It's obvious you don't know much about Djinn. Let me demonstrate. You are a Venus Adept, aren't you?" _Flint retorted. When Isaac nodded, the Djinni exploded in a flash of light. Isaac looked around, startled. Then little balls of light began to stream into Isaac's chest. Isaac was lifted up into the air by a strange force and his arms were thrust back as the balls of yellow light entered his body though the skin on his chest.

"Isaac!" Garet cried worriedly. Isaac soon descended to the ground, only he felt no different.

"_I am now here in your mind. The Alpha of the rat pack that you annihilated earlier is actively seeking you, and is about to discover your camp. Allow me to demonstrate my power," _Flint whispered. Isaac nodded. As if on cue, a rat creature much larger and more muscled than the ones they'd encountered before jumped out of the darkness into their camp. Garet yelped and drew his sword. The Alpha Rat quickly disarmed him with a swipe and then kicked him over with its powerful legs.

"_Focus. Act like you're about to use psynergy, only reach for my presence," _Flint instructed. Isaac did so and easily felt the presence of Flint within his mind. Roaring a battle cry, Isaac rushed forward with his sword and then leaped at the rat, his sword held high. At the apex of his leap, Isaac unleashed Flint's power. His longsword changed into a pure yellow beam of energy, taking on the purified essence of earth. Then, Isaac brought the earth blade down upon the rat's body. Earth energy exploded from the impact, and when the smoke cleared, Isaac saw that the Alpha Rat had been sliced in half vertically.

"Holy Ramses, Isaac!" Garet exclaimed, looking at the rat's remains. Isaac too was in awe. His sword was back to normal now, but there was no denying the effects of the Djinni's power.

"_Oh Venus…I have to…rest for a bit. I have to recover after every time I attack. So…how about it? Will you take me along?" _Flint asked, panting inside of Isaac's mind.

"Garet, I'm going to take Flint along with us," Isaac said to his friend, effectively answering the Djinni.

"Damn straight we are!" Garet exclaimed. "We need to find more of these creatures!"

"_I'm going to sleep so I can recover. I suggest you all do the same. I will see you all when I wake up!" _Flint said, and then he went silent. Isaac let Garet take watch again, and Isaac then went back to his bedroll so that he could sleep the rest of the night away,

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Garet woke Isaac up in the morning and the two packed up camp. Together, they set off for Vault once again. Flint the Djinni remained silent throughout the trip, which was a relief to Isaac because he wanted to save his energy for travel.

Dark storm clouds began to form on the horizon, much to Isaac's dismay. They were still a long way from Vault, so they had no choice but to march straight towards them.

The group weaved around an outcropping of forest, where another rat pack awaited them. With the combined strength of Isaac and Garet along with the power of Flint, they were a breeze. With their defeat, the group began to head east.

The storm hit later that afternoon. Rain coursed down in sheets, soaking the two travelers thoroughly. Garet wanted to make camp early and camp underneath the forest canopy, but Isaac was determined to get as close to the bridge as possible that day.

Nightfall approached, and the rain had still not let up. When the temperature began to drop, Garet resorted to warming himself by conjuring a small ball of flame. His psynergy was somewhat weakened due to the rain, but it was still a good way to keep them warm. Isaac realized that Garet had actually come up with a good idea and asked Garet to make a ball for him, which the redhead consented to readily.

When it became too dark to travel, Isaac followed Garet's suggestion and camped underneath the canopy. A group of carnivorous mushrooms had taken over the nearest clearing, so Garet had to exterminate them with a quick flare.

The next morning, the rain had subsided, but the skies were still overcast. As dreary as it was, Isaac decided to continue moving.

The road was wet and muddy, so progress was slowed as the disgusting substance sucked at their boots and impeded progress.

Around noon, the bridge came into sight. There was a solitary hut next to the wooden structure. Inside was a single man whose job was to maintain the bridge and report travelers. After sounding a greeting to Isaac and Garet, the man let them pass.

On the other side of the bridge, the group stocked up on water from the rapid river underneath the bridge. The forests around were mostly pine, so there was no place to find food. They were running low, but they had enough for two more days.

Now that they were across the bridge, Isaac and Garet turned and headed due south, with the forest to their left and the river to their right. Soreness and pain had become a constant companion to the two as they traveled.

The clouds cleared around nightfall as the group made camp for another night. Isaac threw himself onto his bedroll with a sigh, glad to be off his feet. He rubbed them, attempting to get rid of the soreness before he slept. However, he soon gave up and fell asleep, as Garet took the first watch.

In the morning, the group set out again. Garet complained loudly about the traveling, but Isaac ignored him and moved on.

Around noon, the forest ended and the river curved sharply to their right. A settlement became visible in the distance, which Isaac assumed was Vault.

"Isaac, look! Vault!" Garet exclaimed happily, stopping for a moment. Isaac did so as well, feeling somewhat satisfied with himself. They had finally reached Vault, and they were no worse for wear.

"Come on, we're almost there," Isaac panted, and the group began to walk some more. However, they didn't have much farther to go, and they were soon standing before the entrance. However, two men dressed in leather armor were arguing with a mustached man wearing a green in front of the entramce. Isaac looked around for a way in, but several covered wagons blocked the way in.

"What do we do now?" Garet whispered as they neared the commotion.

"We listen. Information is valuable out here," Isaac answered. The two men seemed to be the village guards, and the man seemed to be some kind of merchant due to the items in his wagons.

"You must understand! We can't stay another minute in a dangerous place like this!" the merchant pleaded with the guards. "The eruption was simply too much, I must return to Kalay immediately!"

"I'm telling you, you can't go anywhere because the bridge leading south was destroyed by falling debris!" one of the guards shot back.

"D…destroyed?" the merchant stammered, his mustache quivering. A man standing near the merchant turned to him.

"Master Hammet, this is terrible! How are we to return to Kalay now?" the man asked worriedly. "And what about Ivan? We can't leave him behind!"

The two guards sighed as Hammet and the other man began to argue and ignore them.

"Please get out of the road, we have waiting travelers…" the guard asked, but they were ignored. The other guard made eye contact with Isaac and mouthed an apology. Isaac nodded in response.

"As fond as I am of Ivan, it _is _his fault that my rod was stolen," Hammet insisted. "Do not worry, his powers will aid him in his search."

"Did you hear that? Strange powers?" Garet said, elbowing Isaac.

"Yeah I did. Are you glad we listened now?" the blond replied. Suddenly, a tremor rocked the area, sending items flying everywhere and startled birds squawking into the air.

"We must leave this treacherous place immediately!" Hammet cried.

"But where? The bridge is gone!" the other man asked.

"We have no choice. We must head north," Hammet sighed, as if this was his last resort.

"We'll end up in Lunpa if we head north," the man reminded the merchant.

"Well, it's better than having my entire stock destroyed by tremors, isn't it?" Hammet shot back. The man was silent. The merchant had a point

"I'm sorry, honorable guards, we will be out of your way in a second," Hammet said to the guards, who were looking very impatient. The merchant and his lackey climbed inside one of the covered wagons and they set off, finally unblocking the entrance.

"Finally! Let's head on in!" Garet cried, running forward.

"Welcome to Vault. My apologies for the hold up," the guard apologized as Isaac reached him.

"Don't worry about it. I'd be worried too," Isaac replied, and the two headed inside the village.

Vault was a village very much like Vale. It was housed within a small ridge that surrounded most of the village, with fences and bridges spanning the gaps. The homes were all wooden and the roofs thatched, proving that natural resources were scarce here as well.

Isaac and Garet passed underneath a bridge and entered the main part of town. The ground was littered with strange, tiny crystals that glimmered in the afternoon sun.

"What are those? They look like psynergy stones, only…smaller?" Garet asked, pointing.

"I think they are," Isaac replied. "They must have been carried here from the eruption."

However, the stones didn't seem to have any effect on the towns people, so they moved on. The town was all abuzz about the recent eruption, as well as the robberies that had supposedly taken place.

"Where's the inn? I want to eat and then sleep all night!" Garet said, looking around. Isaac was about to answer when a random woman ran up to him.

"Excuse me! Did you see those strange travelers as they left? They forgot something, and I need to give it to them," the woman asked Isaac.

"What, you mean Hammet the merchant?" Isaac asked.

"No, not Hammet…it was a group of two women and four men. They looked…weird and they were heading for the Goma Range. The young girl and the old man didn't look too happy to be there," the woman answered. Garet looked at Isaac meaningfully.

"Saturos and Menardi!" the redhead exclaimed. Isaac nodded. It seemed their quarry had passed through not long ago. They were catching up.

"Who?" the woman asked, confused.

"Never mind. We haven't seen them. Do you know where we can find the inn?" Isaac asked. The woman was only too happy to point it to them. It was the biggest building on the lower level.

Inside, the innkeeper demanded a price of ten coins for the night, which Isaac was easily able to afford.

The group walked upstairs to the bedroom, where there were plenty of beds available for use. Garet and Isaac flopped down upon them lazily, stripping their armor and weapons from them and dropping them on the floor.

"Ahh, it feels like forever since I've slept in a bed!" Garet said.

"Tell me about it. I feel like I'm about to fall apart," Isaac replied sleepily. It was only barely evening, but Isaac felt like they deserved a good night's sleep after a week of travel. The two bid each other good night and fell swiftly into a calm, dreamless sleep.

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Eh. This chapter was much more fun to write, but it was much shorter than I thought it would be. I had a lot of fun describing Flint and his power, as well as the zombie fight. It always bugged me how we were able to kill the zombies easily. Flint will not be talking again except for maybe little scenes every now and then. Yeah and if you didn't like the lack of dialogue during travel, then I don't know how to fix it. This is the only way I know how to describe travel: generic descriptions of the landscape and traveling conditions. Suggestions are welcome!


	7. Ivan and the Bandits

Sorry about the delay on this chapter. Actually, that's nowhere near enough of an apology for the long time I've taken to eke out this chapter. I have no excuse really, other than a lack of inspiration and college after all. But enough excuses. You've been waiting for this chapter for quite some time, so I'll not waste any more time. Here it is.

Disclaimer: This game is too awesome for me to have had anything to do with it. I suck too much.

* * *

Isaac squatted on the forest floor, watching the small tree frog jump from place to place. Isaac took a step forward, making sure to keep himself silent and undetectable. When the frog hopped by his hiding place, Isaac lunged forward and wrapped his small claws around the small creature and snapped it up in a quick lunge. Licking his lips, he…

"AGH! UGH! OH RAMSES!" Isaac screamed, lurching up in the bed. Sunlight streamed in through the small window as the blonde wiped his lips furiously, trying to get the horrible taste out of his mouth.

"What?" Garet grumbled, waking up from the bed next to him. "What's your problem?"

"I just had the most disturbing and disgusting dream I've ever had!" Isaac exclaimed, and he leaped out of bed and began to frantically wash his mouth out with cold water from the pump nearby. He couldn't understand what had caused him to have such a bad dream.

"_I guess that is another unseen side-effect of melding with a human. We seem to share dreams," _Flint whispered from within Isaac's mind.

"We share _dreams_?" Isaac yelled, earning a stare from Garet.

"Are you talking to Flint?" Garet asked. Isaac nodded distractedly.

"_What? I like frogs!" _Flint protested as Isaac groaned in exasperation.

"Never again!" Isaac demanded, sitting down on the bed. Flint sighed in response. Garet took a step closer, as if worried that Isaac was going to scream again.

"Can you keep it down in there?" sounded an annoyed voice from the next room over. A man of about twenty poked his head out and glared.

"Sorry!" Isaac called back.

"Are you done talking to the Djinni now?" Garet asked. "Because you are sounding kind of crazy."

"I don't know. Maybe I am crazy. Erupting volcanoes, raining gems and Ramses knows what else. Let's get something to eat before I think some more," Isaac muttered.

"I'll second that," Garet said, grinning. With that, the two teens ran down the stairs happily. The innkeeper smiled to herself as she observed the boys.

Isaac and Garet sat at a small table expectantly. The blonde called for service, and a waitress soon came to serve them. Isaac ordered some breakfast, and sent the waitress back to the kitchen. Garet stared after her. Well, in particular, her backside. Isaac's face fell into his palm and then he elbowed his friend hard.

"Ow! Hey, what was that for?" Garet complained, rubbing the affected spot.

"Cut it out. You're starting to drool," Isaac replied with a straight face. Garet laughed out loud and punched Isaac lightly on the shoulder.

"Come on you have to admit…" Garet started.

"I'm not even going to go there," Isaac cut across him, grinning. Just then, the waitress returned with two plates heaped with steaming meat fresh from the oven.

"That's more like it!" Garet cried. The second the plates touched the table, Garet began to shovel food down his throat like he had just lived through a month of famine.

"Slow down, man! You're going to make yourself choke!" Isaac commented, eating his breakfast far more slowly. Garet acted as if he hadn't heard, although he did slow down. Isaac couldn't blame Garet for being hungry; after all, they had just traveled a week without a real meal.

"So, this Ivan kid. Are we going to go look for him?" Garet asked in between bites.

"I think it would be worth checking out," Isaac replied. "But we can't spend too much time on it. Even now, Saturos could be far ahead of us."

Garet nodded agreeably. Isaac finished his plate and moved it to the side. Garet finished soon after, and the waitress came by to pick up their dishes.

"Wait, don't we have to pay or something?" Garet asked the pretty waitress before she could leave.

"Of course not, breakfast is included when you rent a room for a night," the waitress replied merrily before returning to the kitchen.

"Too bad you're not included," Garet grumbled. Isaac let his face fall into his hand.

"Come on, let's go find Ivan. Then we can leave this place and head to Goma Range," the blonde said finally, rising from his seat.

"We don't even know where he is," Garet stated as he followed Isaac out the door. "I hope you have a plan or something."

"Or you could be the smart one and come up with the plan for once," Isaac retorted, but he was already thinking hard about how he was going to track down this kid.

The townspeople were out and about, despite the fact that it was early in the morning. Looking around, Isaac could see people coming and going from the town gate, and still others buying and selling from stalls lining the cliffs that made up the village's boundaries.

"You know, this is not a bad first experience with the outside world, don't you agree?" Garet spoke up as they walked. Isaac, who had been thinking, blinked and looked back at his friend.

"Huh? You mean this village?" Isaac asked, surprised. Sure it was a nice enough place, but it just wasn't the same as Vale.

"Yeah. I mean, it's not Vale, but its nice to know that there are people out here enjoying life to the fullest," Garet continued. Isaac nodded, as he had just been thinking something along those lines.

"Stop it, Garet. You're sounding insightful, and it's freaking me out," Isaac quipped, causing his friend to stop and shoot him a glare.

"Hey, I can be serious too every once in a while!" Garet countered, but Isaac was already far ahead of him. "Hey, wait for me!"

When the two met up again, they began searching for anyone who could tell them where Ivan was. Isaac had the bright idea as they were walking past the cliffs to check out the item store and see if the proprietor knew anything.

The owner of the item shop looked up as they entered, a bright smile crossing her face. Garet leaned towards Isaac.

"Look at her! She's really attractive," he whispered to him. Isaac grinned wryly and shoved his Garet away, who chuckled.

"Welcome to the Vault Item Shop! I'm Anna, the owner. Is there anything I can do to help you?" she asked them politely, doing a little curtsey. Isaac nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"There is actually. We're looking for a kid named Ivan, who came here with Hammet the merchant. Have you seen him?" Isaac asked hopefully, while Garet drooled over his shoulder at Anna's form. Isaac elbowed his friend subtly, causing Garet to rethink his actions and attempt to look at her normally.

"Ivan? I think I may have. Strange looking kid but seemed nice enough," Anna replied. Isaac grinned happily as he got the answer he wanted.

"Awesome! Where was he?" Garet exclaimed. Anna seemed to think about it for a moment.

"I think I remember seeing him by the mayor's house, if you'd like to check there. It's at the back end of the village, on top of the hill," she told them. Then she looked confused. "Um…did you want to purchase something?"

"Oh yeah! We could use some antidotes, if you have any of those," Isaac answered, remembering that it was bad manners to walk into a shop and waste the owner's time without buying anything.

"Isaac, we have like, two antidotes. I don't think we need any more," Garet whispered to him. Isaac ignored him, figuring that he'd explain later. Anna brightened up and opened up a cupboard near her, pulling out several unique herbs that were used to cure a variety of poisons.

"Of course! We have plenty in stock, just for you. They are worth twenty coins apiece. How many would you like today sir?" she asked happily. Isaac fished in his coin purse and withdrew 40 coins. While traveling, the monsters they had encountered tended to drop currency for some reason. It made sense for zombies to drop some, since they used to be people, but it was just plain disgusting to see coins drop out from a rat monsters' stomach after Isaac had stabbed it. However, money was still money, and if the money of some poor soul was devoured along with him by a monster fell into their hands, then all the better for them.

"I'll take two, if you don't mind." Isaac responded, placing the coins on the table. Anna nodded and handed the two herbs to Isaac, who made sure to wrap them carefully before putting them in his bag.

"Have a nice day, sirs! I hope you find Ivan!" Anna called as they left the shop. Garet sighed and gave Isaac a meaningful look.

"Are you sure we need that many?" he asked Isaac, who sighed and shook his head at his friend's ignorance.

"Firstly, it's always better to be safe than sorry. Secondly, it's rude to ask information from a shopkeeper without buying something. That way you can show them that you value their time." Isaac explained.

"Oh I see. That makes sense then. Man, I wish things were simpler," Garet said. Isaac shrugged, mentally agreeing with his friend on that one. "So we're going to the mayor's place?"

"That's right. Make sure to be on your best behavior, Garet," Isaac replied, being totally serious. Offending someone in a position of power was never good thing. Isaac assumed that doing the same to a mayor would have long lasting consequences.

"I'm always on my best behavior!" Garet proclaimed indignantly, though Isaac again ignored him as they climbed up the stairs that were built into the cliffside.

"That's frightening," Isaac commented, reaching the top of the hill. "Now quiet down, I'm going to knock."

The two then got serious, not knowing what to expect if Ivan was indeed in this building. Isaac knocked on the door firmly, while Garet tried vainly to make his hair look good for whatever reason.

As Isaac heard footsteps, he hissed to Garet, who stopped fidgeting and stood behind him. The door creaked open to reveal an elderly woman who looked to be in the later half of her life. She gazed down at them with a kindly smile on her face.

"Hello there children. Is there something I can do for you?" she asked; Isaac tried to keep his face neutral, though he was inwardly seething at being called a child. He did his best to remain polite, so he bowed slightly.

"Yes ma'am. My friend Garet and I are looking for someone named Ivan. Is he inside?" Isaac inquired, keeping his tone formal. The woman smiled again and beckoned for them to enter.

"Indeed he is. Come on in, I'm just about to finish cooking dinner." She told them. Garet and Isaac exchanged triumphant looks before following her inside.

It wasn't much, but then again Isaac hadn't been expecting much. It consisted of nothing more than one level, with the beds tucked up against one side of the house. There was a sizable dining table that had already been set, and there were two small children already sitting there. One was a girl, and the other was a boy, and they both looked hungry and eager to eat.

There was an elderly man whom Isaac assumed to be the mayor standing over near the kitchen, where he was conversing with a teen around their age, who was dressed in strange clothing.

The teen had a youthful face that sported a serious look, with short blonde hair that partially obscured his strange, violet eyes. He also had a strange sense of color, as he was wearing dark red slacks as well as a traveling vest that was a mix of both purple and green. There was a staff strapped to his back as well. He definitely stood out from the rest of the villagers.

"Clive, come over here and greet your new guests!" the woman called over to the elderly man, whose name was obviously Clive. The other teen looked put out that his conversation was cut off, but he remained silent.

"Greetings young men," Clive said to them, walking over with his hand outstretched. Isaac smiled. Being called young men was a hell of a lot better than children. At least one of these people knew better. "My name is Clive. I'm the mayor of Vault. How can I help you?"

"It's nice to meet you, sir. My name is Isaac, and this is my friend Garet. We're looking for someone named Ivan, who came here with the merchant. Is he here?" Isaac said, taking the man's hand and shaking it. The teen who was wearing the strange clothing suddenly turned his head and stared right at Isaac for a few moments before walking to Clive's side.

"Please, call me Clive. The one you are looking for. Indeed, he is right next to me." Clive replied, patting the teen in question's head. Ivan's gaze met Isaac's and his eyes seemed to stare right through him. Isaac was unnerved, but he refused to break eye contact.

"I am Ivan," the teen spoke calmly, his tone level and monotone. "What is it that you wish of me?"

"Tell you what, how about you all stay for lunch and you can discuss business at the table?" the woman suggested from her position in the kitchen. Isaac could smell a pleasant aroma emanating from that area, so it seemed that if he accepted this offer, not only would he get the information he needed, but he would also get a hot meal out of it. Granted, they had eaten not long ago, but Isaac was already hungry again. He guessed that's what happened when you went traveling for a long period of time.

"We don't really have the ti…" Garet began, but Isaac nudged him hard, causing him to stop speaking and give him a hurt look.

"We accept. Thank you for your kindness." Isaac said in his place. Garet could be so foolish sometimes.

With that, the group of assorted people in the house gathered together at the kitchen table. Isaac sat across from Clive, while Ivan sat on his left and Garet sat on his right. The two small children sat together to the left of Clive. The other woman, whom Isaac assumed to be Clive's wife, soon returned with several plates heaped high with meat and vegetables.

Just by glancing at the food, Isaac could tell that it was all made locally. It wasn't high quality either, which further supported his hypothesis that this town was not as well off as Vale, who was able to increase their harvests through psynergy.

"So, Isaac, what is it that you wish from our Ivan?" Clive asked curiously. Isaac was about to answer when he felt a hand on his wrist. He turned to see Ivan's calm violet eyes. He was going to ask about the hand when he felt something strange.

There was something in his head, almost like a presence. It hurt as it sifted through his mind. Isaac began to have flashes of memory from when he had been standing at the entrance to Vault watching Hammet. It began to dawn on Isaac what was happening, but he wasn't able to confirm it by the time Ivan removed his hand, removing the presence.

"Yes, I do have strange powers, though I wasn't aware that it was called psynergy." Ivan answered the question Isaac had been planning to ask before it had even left his mouth. Garet looked completely dumbstruck at the fact that he had just discovered the existence of psynergy. Isaac stood up from his chair and backed away from the strange teen, unwilling to go through that sensation again.

"Ivan! I told you to ask first before invading someone's privacy like that!" Clive snapped at the teen, who looked surprised at Isaac's reaction.

"What the hell did you just do?" Isaac demanded.

"Please sit down and eat, we'll explain," the woman told him. Isaac glared suspiciously at Ivan, but did as she asked.

"Are you all right, Isaac?" Garet asked in a concerned voice. Isaac nodded. He was over it now. It had been more the shock of his mind getting invaded that had disturbed him so.

"Is my mind reading really that frightening?" Ivan asked in a curious tone.

"It wasn't frightening, but it was more shocking and rude that you sifted through my memories like that." Isaac explained. Ivan nodded understandingly, and he began to eat the food that was in front of him.

"I understand. I will not read your minds again without prior permission," he conceded. With that, the group of people lapsed into silence. Garet was stuffing his face with the food around him with little manners, though this was nothing more than a cause for merriment between Clive and his wife. Isaac was thinking about Ivan and the fact that he was an Adept like them, but as to what type, he didn't know. He would make a powerful ally with that mind reading ability of his, but it seems he had other responsibilities, such as finding that rod that Hammet really wanted.

"I've been thinking," Ivan suddenly said, turning to look at Isaac. The teen snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Ivan. "I've come to see that you and I have a lot in common. Could I ask a favor of you?"

"Of course, I'll listen, but I can't promise anything," Isaac replied diplomatically. Ivan smiled happily, showing the first emotion Isaac had seen out of him so far. Perhaps he wasn't the emotionless type after all.

"You've heard about Master Hammet and his rod, right?" Ivan asked. Isaac nodded in confirmation, waiting for him to continue. "I was put in charge of guarding it, and it was stolen while I slept. Do you think you could help me find it?"

"You'd let a complete stranger just help you out of the blue?" Isaac asked curiously.

"Well, judging from what I saw from your mind, I feel I can trust you." Ivan confessed. Isaac wasn't entirely comfortable that Ivan had seen anything from his mind, but he understood what the teen was saying.

"What would we gain out of it?" Garet spoke up between bites of meat, causing Ivan to glance over at him.

"Garet! Don't be rude!" Isaac snapped. This was why he did all the talking. Garet had no diplomacy to speak of.

"No, I understand. I couldn't ask you to help me for nothing," Ivan alleged. "But I'm afraid I don't have much to give you, other than my friendship."

Isaac sighed and began thinking about this. Saturos and Menardi could be getting farther and farther away even as they spoke, but his conscious was urging him to help this guy, who was also an Adept like them. On the practically side, perhaps he could be persuaded to join them once the rod was in his hands.

"How about this, young men," Clive spoke up, diverting the attention to himself. "The thieves who stole the rod are possibly the ones who've been stealing everything else around town. If you help Ivan catch them, I'll reward you with coin. Sound good?"

"Sounds incredible! Let's do it, Isaac!" Garet exclaimed as he finished his meal. Isaac couldn't help but smile at his friend's eagerness.

"I agree. Do you at least have an idea of where to start?" Isaac asked, finally making the decision to help Ivan. The teen looked absolutely thrilled, and that happy smile seemed to be permanently etched onto his face.

"I do actually. I was planning on going to the inn and using my powers to read the mind of everyone there, to see if I could find some clues. However, I haven't done so since I didn't know what would happen if I actually found them." Ivan confessed. Finished his meal, Isaac prepared to get moving.

"Then that's what we'll do first. Clive sir, do you mind if we get started immediately?" Isaac asked, knowing that it would be rude to simply get up and leave in the middle of a meal with the mayor.

"Of course. If it helps you get rid of those cursed thieves, then I'll not stop you, off you go," Clive answered.

"All right! Let's go!" Garet proclaimed, ready to get moving after such a good meal. Isaac stood up, adjusting his weaponry so that it wasn't in his way. Ivan got up as well, a look of anticipation crossing his youthful face.

"I know the way to the inn, follow me!" Ivan announced, rushing out the door. Isaac shook his head. They knew the way too, but he wasn't about to say anything that might dampen the teen's spirits. Garet and Isaac followed Ivan outside quickly, shutting the door behind them.

Clive and his wife remained at their table, eating alongside their children. Clive smiled as he watched them leave.

"Young ones. Where do they get all that energy, Gertrude?" he commented, shaking his grizzled head. Gertrude, who was his wife, shrugged.

"Who knows? I wish them the best though. Mel, will you stop playing in your food and eat it?" she answered before chiding her daughter. The small girl, whose name was Mel, pouted and poked at her meat with her fork.

"Mommy, I don't like it!" she complained, refusing to eat. Gertrude sighed, glancing at her husband wryly.

"Sounds an awful lot like you, Gertrude," Clive joked, earning a playful swat from his wife. "Now, do what your mother says, children. She knows what she's talking about."

* * *

Isaac was surprised at how friendly the other townsfolk were now. All of them seemed to be fond of Ivan, as nearly everyone called out a greeting to him. People were also nicer to Garet and Isaac, moving out of their way when a collision seemed imminent. Perhaps they believed that they were good folk as well, since they were associating with Ivan. Isaac felt his respect for the mind reading teen grow. He couldn't be all bad if everyone else liked him so much.

The town was pretty small, so it wasn't long before they stood in the inn once again. The innkeeper flashed them a happy smile as she saw them.

"Good afternoon, Ivan! I see you've found some new friends," she called. Ivan nodded in acknowledgement to her greeting.

"Yep! This is Isaac and Garet. They're here to help me find Hammet's rod!" Ivan replied. The innkeeper looked concerned for a few seconds, but then she noticed the weapons that Isaac and Garet were carrying.

"I wish you luck in your search. Please protect Ivan, you two," the innkeeper begged them. "If there's anything I can help with, please let me know."

"Ivan, would you allow me to take charge?" Isaac asked suddenly, getting an idea. Ivan nodded, looking curious. "Ma'am, could you please gather everyone in the inn right here in front of us?"

"Yes, I can. Please give me a few moments," the innkeeper replied, smiling at the politeness that Isaac showed her. Then she turned around and ran up the stairs to the upper levels, ready to gather everyone.

"What's your plan, Isaac?" Garet asked, looking as clueless as he usually did.

"Simple. I plan to make full use of Ivan's mind reading power here. We'll get everyone to line up here, and we'll get Ivan to shake the hands of everybody here, reading their minds for any information that could help us find the thieves," Isaac explained.

"Sounds like a good idea. I know most of the people here won't be the thieves, but they may have something to share," Ivan concurred.

"Fascinating! How do you come up with such elaborate plans, Isaac?" Garet exclaimed, gazing at his friend with admiration. Isaac sighed in exasperation.

"It's actually an incredibly simple plan, Garet," Isaac remarked. Garet was about to reply when a small group of people descended the staircase, with the innkeeper right behind them.

"Everyone! Please lend me your attention for a few minutes!" she announced to the entire inn. The room grew silent as people looked up from their meals and paused conversations. It was a small town, so everyone knew her and knew that she wouldn't interrupt them for something unimportant. People caught sight of Ivan and began sending quiet greetings his way.

"Our good friend Ivan is here to interview you all about the robberies that have been occurring around here. Please line up in an orderly fashion and give him your fullest attention, please!" the innkeeper finished, and then she sat down at her desk. The inn erupted with the sound of shuffling and footsteps as people stood up from their tables and began to do as she asked.

Soon, there was a line that stretched the entire width of the inn. Isaac was inwardly surprised that everything had gone so smoothly. Perhaps they would actually get something good out of this.

He watched as Ivan approached the first person in line. The teen spoke a few words with the man, and then shook his hand, a look of concentration crossing his mind as he did so. Then he would thank the man and move on to the next person. Only a few times did the person realize what was happening, but in none of those cases did the person do anything to impede Ivan.

Soon, Ivan reached the last person in line, who was the waitress that had served Garet and Isaac earlier that morning. Her face was flushed, and her breathing was shaky, as if she was incredibly embarrassed by something. When Ivan shook her hand and read her mind, Ivan froze, and then quickly released her hand. The teen walked back over to Isaac and Garet. He was blushing furiously, and his eyes were wide with what looked like shock.

"What's the matter? What was in her mind that affected you so much?" Isaac whispered to the teen in a concerned voice.

"You don't want to know…" Ivan stammered, shaking his head. "I actually think I'm a little scarred from that."

"Suddenly I find myself curious," Garet spoke up, grinning. Isaac shot him a glare, silencing the redhead.

"Did you find anything we can use?" Isaac asked the teen, who had finally recovered from whatever he had seen in the waitress's mind.

"Nothing concrete, but everyone seems to be either wishing us good luck, or expressing suspicion towards the three foreign guests that have recently taken up lodge here in the inn." Ivan related to them. Isaac looked around for any one that fitted that description, but saw no one of note.

"Where are these foreign guests?" Isaac asked. Ivan shrugged.

"They don't seem to be here. Oi! Innkeeper woman person!" Garet called. Isaac let his face fall into his hand at the way he addressed her.

"Yes, Garet?" the innkeeper replied, giggling slightly. "My name is Jess, by the way."

"Those newcomers. Why didn't they come down with the rest?" Garet demanded. Jess looked confused, and she looked up the staircase, only to see that no one was there.

"I don't quite know. I told them to come down, but it seems they weren't listening. They were in the room across from you two," Jess answered. Isaac remembered the angry man who had told them to quiet down earlier that morning. His hand went to the hilt of his longsword.

"That may be them. Ivan? Are you ready?" the blonde asked grimly, already mentally prepared for a fight."

"Yeah, let's go." Ivan replied, his voice a little shaky. With that, the three teamed together and walked up the stairs, looking for the room where they had stayed before.

"This is it," Garet announced, pointing at a certain door. "That one was ours. I remember it because of the spider web just above it."

"There's a spider web there?" Isaac asked, looking up to the top of the door. Sure enough, there was a small spider web up there, inhabited by a small black spider. Ivan, to their surprise, reached up and lightly touched the web, which caused the spider to crawl on his finger.

"Ivan, what are you doing?" Garet asked cluelessly. Isaac too was confused, though he had an inkling. Ivan concentrated for a second, and then he allowed the spider to crawl back onto its web.

"Did you think my mind reading ability only worked on humans?" Ivan asked, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Just now, I learned all about who reserved these rooms in this hallway, and even when they left or returned."

"Really? That's really nifty if you can get information from a common insect." Garet commented.

"Garet, a spider is an arachnid, not an insect. But yes, I agree Ivan. That is one hell of an ability you have there." Ivan corrected. Garet looked put out.

"Do you have to correct everything I say?" Garet complained, but he was ignored, since Ivan was already talking again.

"The three foreigners are in the room right next to you, and according to the spider, they've come and gone quite a bit. However, they are still in there." Ivan divulged. Isaac nodded and walked over to the door. He tried the handle, only to find it locked.

"I got this!" Garet declared, walking up to the door. He had a muscular build, so it was a simple task for him to kick the door open, the lock breaking easily.

The three foreigners were inside, and they looked up in surprise and anger as Isaac, Garet, and Ivan stormed inside. They were definitely foreign, as they were wearing clothing and had hairstyles that were nothing like the rest of the people in town. They all had shoulder length hair, and wore red and green traveling cloaks.

"Who the hell are you guys?" The first one demanded, who was the tallest and seemed to be the leader. Before Isaac could answer, another one pointed at Ivan with a shaking finger.

"Hey boss, look! It's that weird kid!" he cried. The other one sprang to the other side of the large room.

"Keep him away from me!" the last one said. With that, the three of them retreated to the other side of the room, obviously ready to make a break for it if Ivan got any closer.

"Garet, block the exit. Ivan, you and I split up and try to surround one!" Isaac ordered. Garet and Ivan nodded and ran to their designated tasks.

When Ivan chased the nearest one, the man scrambled away in fright, only to meet Isaac coming the other way. He yelped and leapt over the table and ran for the exit, but Garet was there to shove him away.

The boss of the three tried to shove past Isaac, but the teen used his shield to push him back, right into the waiting Ivan, who grabbed his arm.

"Damn, he's got me!" the boss yelped, and his minions tried to rush to his side. Garet figured that since Ivan had touched one of them, his role was over. Therefore, he flipped a table and threw it at the two, pinning them to the wall.

"Ivan!" Isaac called urgently as he tried to hold back the boss. The teen nodded and released the man. "All right, pull back!"

Garet looked confused, but followed Isaac and Ivan out of the room, leaving the scared and utterly confused foreigners behind.

"Why did you let them go, Isaac?" Garet demanded as they ran down the stairs. Isaac sighed, realizing that he would have to explain things to his intellectually challenged friend the entire journey.

"First off, we didn't know for sure that they were the thieves. Secondly, if they were and we accused them, the first thing they would do would be to grab their loot and skip town. That's why I let them go." Isaac explained. "By the way, what did you discover, Ivan?"

"It's them all right. Not only have they stolen Hammet's rod, they've also stolen a lot of other things in the village," Ivan revealed grimly. Jess saw them come down the stairs and looked at them expectantly.

"Did you find anything?" she asked.

"We did. Don't say anything, however. We don't want to tip the thieves off." Ivan replied. Jess nodded and let them go, wishing them luck.

They left the inn, with Garet and Isaac looking at Ivan expectantly.

"They hid the loot in the loft, which had been sealed up for quite some time. Only the innkeeper can get it. However, since the eruption, one of those falling gems fell onto the roof, creating an entrance." Ivan explained, pointing to the roof. Isaac looked and noticed that there was a convenient ladder sitting against the roof, and up top there were various construction tools next to the obvious hole.

"I understand. Let's go everyone. Everything the town has been missing should be inside," Isaac ordered. He led the way, hopping onto the ladder and swiftly ascending it. He waited for the other two to follow him up, and then he dropped himself into the hole.

The air in the loft was musty and stale, proof that it hadn't been opened in a while. It was a very small room though. Garet hit the floor behind Isaac, followed soon by Ivan.

"Smells terrible in here," Garet commented. Isaac agreed mentally, but didn't answer him. He was instead scanning the room. There was a crack in the floor near the back corner of the room, and it had a huge crate just beyond it.

"There should be a door right there, according to the thief's mind," Ivan spoke up, pointing to the huge crate. "We should be able to move that crate in order to get to it, but that crack in the floor is preventing us from reaching it."

"That's nothing. Isaac, should I do it or do you want to?" Garet boasted. Isaac sighed and waved his hand, motioning for Garet to go ahead. The redhead cracked his knuckles obnoxiously and walked up as close to the crack as he could get. Then, he held his palm out before him and concentrated.

A huge white hand made of pure psynergy appeared in the air before him, and it grabbed onto the crate and easily moved it to the left, revealing the door that led to the room beyond. Then the hand disappeared and Garet looked extremely proud of himself.

"Is that more psynergy? I can read minds, summon whirlwinds, and cast lightning, but nothing like that," Ivan asked curiously. Garet and Isaac looked at him in surprise, realizing just what kind of Adept he was.

"He's a Jupiter Adept, isn't he? One of those guys that controls the wind?" Garet asked in awe. Isaac nodded mutely, looking at Ivan with a new respect.

"Yes, Ivan. This is the Move psynergy. It allows people like us to move objects that are out of our reach, but it is limited in the aspect that it cannot lift said objects," Isaac explained. That was what the Catch psynergy was for. Isaac still needed to learn that psynergy from the Catch Beads his mother had entrusted to him, but he just hadn't had enough time since he got here.

"Fascinating. Anyhow, let's keep moving." Ivan replied. With that, the three hopped over the cracked floor and walked through the door to see another large room filled to the top with crates and chests. However, the sound of muffled groaning soon reached their ears.

"Isaac, someone is here!" Garet alerted him. Isaac walked towards the sound of the groaning and discovered a man tied up, gagged, and blindfolded lying on the ground near a set of three chests.

Ivan gasped and ran up to the man, whom he seemed to know. Drawing a small knife from his belt, he cut the man's bonds, as well as removed the gag and blindfold. The man sighed in relief and stood up, smiling happily as he saw Ivan.

"Ivan! You have no idea how glad I am to see you!" he exclaimed, embracing the teen warmly. Ivan awkwardly patted him on the back until he was released.

"What happened, Dale? Why were you all tied up?" Ivan asked worriedly. Isaac and Garet stood back, their hands on their weapons in case things went south.

"Well, I came in this loft when I was fixing the roof, and I found that I couldn't get all the way to the back of the loft. So I was looking into it when someone took me down from behind. So I woke up here. Though I don't remember all of these crates being here before," Dale disclosed.

"I'm sure it's all the stolen stuff that's in all these crates," Ivan told him. Isaac was about to suggest that they start looking for the rod when a new arrival threw a wrench in all their plans.

"Huh. Looks like we've been found out, boys," sounded a gruff voice from the entrance to the room. All eyes turned to the doorway as the three men from the inn entered the room. Only now they were armed and didn't look as docile as before. The leader had a longsword that he was grasping with both hands, while the other two had shortswords. Isaac and Garet drew their own respective longswords and held their shields before them, fully prepared for a fight.

"You're pretty persistent for one of Hammet's whelps," the boss of the thieves observed. The second thief stepped forward.

"Yeah, why are you working so hard for Hammet? What's it to you?" he snapped. Ivan opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the third thief.

"Not like what you're doing even matters. Hammet's already been caught by a worse group of thieves than us!" he gloated. Ivan went pale as he heard this, while Isaac's hand tightened around the hilt of his weapon.

"What…what are you talking about?" Ivan stammered, his hand going to the wooden staff on his back.

"You see, I heard he went to Lunpa after the eruption," the head thief disclosed, knowing full well that everyone there should know of the implications of such a decision. Dale's eyes went wide at this declaration.

"Did you just say Lunpa? A man with Master Hammet's money shouldn't go anywhere NEAR Lunpa!" Dale cried in horror. Garet looked at him, confused by his reaction.

"What kind of place is Lunpa?" Garet asked him curiously. Dale gulped nervously.

"The town was named after its founder, Lunpa, the noble thief," he started. Then the thief leader continued the story.

"That family of thieves remained noble, even after his son, Donpa, took over," he explained.

"Yeah, but Donpa's son, Dodonpa, is an evil thief," the second thief continued. Isaac realized where this was heading, and he sighed.

"That man has no morals. They say he's truly vicious," the third thief finished. The thief leader spoke up again. Isaac noticed in amusement that they seemed to be speaking in turns.

"See? We're not so bad. How about it? Will you let us go?" he asked, a confident smirk on his face. Isaac blinked. He had not expected them to ask for quarter this soon. However, he could not rest knowing that these guys were going to get away with all of those valuables if he let them.

"Yeah, I'll let you go. Only if you return everything that you have stolen and apologize to the villagers," Isaac reasoned, trying to compromise with them. After all, it wasn't like they had killed anyone, so he could afford to be lenient.

"Wait, seriously?" the boss responded furiously. The other thieves looked similarly angry. "You've got to be joking. We stole all this stuff fair and square!"

"We'll just have to keep you quiet then!" the second thief added, licking his knife in preparation for the fight that Isaac could see coming.

"Right. And there's only one way to do that. Get em!" the boss roared. He then brandished his knife and lunged at Isaac, who was ready for him. Dale scrambled behind the crates, since he had no combat skills whatsoever. The three thieves split up and began to engage the members of Isaac's group in one on one fights.

Isaac caught the leader's longsword on his wooden shield, his golden eyes glaring into the thief's. He then redirected the blade to the left with the shield and struck forward with his own blade. The man's eyes widened and he dodged to the left, so Isaac's blade only cut through his clothes and nicked his skin.

"Damn, you're quick!" the leader cursed, pulling something out of his belt. He then threw a round vial at Isaac, who was unable to dodge it in time.

"Isaac, watch out!" Garet roared, stepping in front of Isaac and catching the vial on his shield. The vial shattered and released an explosion of flame, which charred Garet's shield, though barely burned him at all. Being a Mars Adept had its benefits after all. The thief that had been attacking Garet then lunged at the redhead, who repelled him with a blast of fire from his palm.

"Wait your damn turn!" Garet snapped, and then he lunged back towards him. The leader of the thieves cursed that his vial had done little damage, and he swung his blade back at Isaac. The teen blocked it with his own blade, and then retaliated by bashing the man in the chest with his shield, knocking him back and leaving him vulnerable for a secondary strike.

Isaac reached deep into his mind and contacted the dormant mind of the Djinni, Flint. The Djinni eagerly woke up and responded to his touch.

"_My turn, is it? All right, let me at him!" _Flint responded eagerly, and Isaac felt power streaming into his blade. Isaac let out a battle cry and charged at the leader, who was struggling to rise. The man saw Isaac coming and raised his sword to block. Isaac didn't stop. He raised his blade, which turned from gray metal into a yellow glow, the pure essence of earth. The thief's eyes widened in shock as Isaac's transformed blade smashed right through his own blade and cut him right down the middle, though Isaac made sure not to leave a mortal wound.

"W…what….argh…" the leader groaned, hitting the floor. Isaac felt Flint's power leave him, his sword returning to normal. He turned around to see how the others were doing.

Garet was easily overpowering his opponent with the sheer amount of brute force behind his strikes. The thief only had a shortsword, so he was at a disadvantage. However, the thief knew what would happen if they were defeated, so he became desperate. He withdrew something from his belt, which was another round vial.

"Fire won't work on me!" Garet taunted, but was surprised when the thief didn't quail.

"Yeah? Well how about smoke, you bastard!" he shot back and tossed the vial. The vial hit the ground and shattered, engulfing a large area surrounding Garet with a thick smokescreen. Garet coughed violently, straining to see through his watering eyes. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and instinctively held out his shield. He felt an impact as the thief's shortsword shattered through his already damaged shield and cut into his arm.

Garet cursed as the smoke cleared, revealing the thief's triumphant face. Garet looked down at his arm to see the blade slicing into it, blood dripping onto the floor. It stung unlike anything he had ever felt before, but it didn't cripple him.

"Ha! I gotcha!" the thief declared, but was shocked to see that Garet was grinning.

"This is my blood, right? This is definitely a different experience for me," Garet said, though it was obvious he was trying not to cry out. "Just like THIS is a different experience for you!"

With that, Garet's arm began to radiate intense heat, and the thief watched in shock as his blade turned from grey to white hot to molten steel in a matter of second. It dripped from the hilt to the floor, where it instantly hardened into steel once more. Soon, the thief was shaking with terror as he was left with nothing but a useless hilt.

"What…what…what did you just…" the thief stammered incoherently, completely unable to defend himself from Garet's next attack. The redhead grinned and smashed the hilt of his sword on top of the man's head, knocking him unconscious. Garet walked over to Isaac, a rueful look on his face.

"Hand me some herbs, will ya? He got me." Garet asked.

Ivan was having much more trouble with his bandit than the others had. His staff could barely hold up against the quick strikes from the last thief, who had been mentally backed into a corner as he comrades fell. He had gotten desperate, and a desperate man was dangerous.

"You won't take me!" the thief yelled, thrusting his blade towards Ivan. The youth dodged it, since he was nothing if not nimble. Ivan then lashed out with his staff, which the thief blocked with his arm and sliced through it with his blade.

"You think your little stick with hurt me? Get real, brat! I'll kill you, and then I'll kill your friends!" the thief taunted. Ivan then went really still, dropping his staff to the ground. When he looked back up, the thief was shocked to see burning determination in his eyes.

"Don't you ever threaten my friends," Ivan growled, and then he thrust both of his hands forward. Powerful lightning colored a shining purple lanced from his fingertips, striking the thief all over. The man screamed in pain as the bolts burnt through his clothing and severely burnt his skin.

Bravely, the thief tried to strike even as he was electrocuted. However, the second he drew close to Ivan, the youth summoned a powerful whirlwind around him, knocking the thief backwards and into the wall, where he went unconscious.

Ivan sighed in relief and walked over to Isaac and Garet, who had finished up their own encounters and were nursing their minor injuries. Garet was holding a poultice made from traveling herbs to his bleeding arm.

"Damn…" the leader of the thieves croaked from his spot on the ground, where Isaac was tending to his injuries so that he didn't bleed out. "You got us good. We didn't stand a chance against you."

"Wow, we won!" Dale exclaimed as he peeked out from his hiding spot behind the crates. He climbed out as the others watched. "For a second there, I thought we were goners, but I can't believe you actually did it! I'll get the mayor!"

Isaac watched, metaphorically sweat dropping at the man's quick withdrawal and his misuse of the word, "we." It was them that had done all the work.

"I can't believe we lost even after all that work we did stealing everything," the leader complained weakly. Garet scoffed and walked over to him.

"Haven't you heard? Stealing from others for your own gain is wrong!" he chided the man, who scoffed back and turned his head. The thief that Garet had conked came to just then, and he sighed from his position on the ground.

"Sheesh! Would you listen to them? Way to kick a man while he's down. Boss, I told you we should have skipped town earlier." He said to the leader, who ignored him. Garet then struck a ridiculous pose.

"Evil never prevails! Mwahaha!" he declared, causing Isaac's face to again fall into his palm. That seemed to be the instinctive reaction to everything his friend said recently. Ivan looked depressed, and just looked through the crates.

"If you'll just let me have Hammet's rod, I'll be heading to Lunpa now. What will you two do, Isaac?" Ivan asked. Isaac let Garet answer this one, as he was helping Ivan look for the rod now.

"I guess we'll be heading after Felix and the others…" Garet trailed off, not knowing how much he was allowed to say. Ivan looked confused and reached for Isaac's hand, but then stopped, looking into the blonde's eyes, searching for permission. Isaac gazed back, wondering if he should let him. After a moment, Isaac relented, nodding to Ivan. The youth smiled and then grasped Isaac's palm, reaching into his mind. Since Isaac knew what was coming, it didn't hurt quite as much as Ivan read his mind for details of his quest. When he was done, Ivan drew away, looking shocked.

"I…I see. So that's what happened," the youth whispered, but wasn't able to ask any questions before Dale returned with Clive and another man in tow. Clive possessed a cane with him, which he was leaning heavily on.

"These are the thieves, mayor!" Dale proclaimed, presenting the thoroughly demoralized men on the floor. Clive was furious, and he slammed his cane on the ground.

"What you three did was horrid! Stealing from others in the middle of a disaster!" Clive scolded them fervently.

"It's your own damn fault! You were the one's who left your doors wide open! It's like you were begging us to…OUCH!" the leader spoke, but was cut off by the mayor smacking his face with his cane.

"Oh I'm sorry. I seem to have lost control of myself," Clive growled, though he didn't seem sorry at all.

"What should we do with them?" the man next to Clive asked.

"We're going to lock them up for a long, long time." Clive decided, turning the other way, unwilling to give them the benefit of his gaze any longer. The man nodded and began kicking the downed forms of the men.

"Hey, wake the hell up! Let's go—oh come on get up! Hey, you three, can you help me tie these guys up?" the man asked, holding up a significant amount of rope. Isaac nodded, and the three walked over to the thieves and began lashing them up. After a short time, they were securely bound and helpless. The leader looked furious, and was glaring right at Isaac.

"Your name is Isaac right? You will pay for this!" he spat. Isaac ignored him. The petty threats of a common thief meant nothing to him.

"Take them away!" Clive commanded, and then Dale and the other man began escorting the three out of the loft. Now that the mayor was alone with Isaac, Garet, and Ivan, he smiled happily.

"Thank you for taking out the thieves for us. Really, you were a big help," Clive gushed, walking towards the three chests where Dale had been tied up.

"It was nothing really. Those guys were pansies!" Garet bragged, causing Isaac to grab his arm and point at the wound.

"This coming from the only one of us to get wounded," Isaac quipped, causing Ivan to laugh from behind him.

"Let's see what they stole, shall we?" Clive said. Isaac walked up beside the old man and opened up one of the chests, while Clive opened another.

"This is my prized family urn! Thank the heavens that it's still in one piece!" Clive exclaimed, holding up an intricate urn that looked very old. Isaac held up a statue made of pure gold, which he looked at with interest. Clive looked over at it, and then a look of recognition and horror crossed his face.

"Hey, that belongs in the…they stole that from the Sanctum? Those monsters!" Clive raged. He soon calmed down, however. "At least the town's treasures have been returned."

"There's one more chest over here, guys!" Garet called from around a corner in the maze of crates. Clive and Isaac walked over to him to see Garet pull out an ornate, engraved staff. It looked significant, so Isaac looked over to Ivan.

"I think this is what you were looking for, Ivan!" Isaac called, taking the staff from Garet. Ivan ran over to it, looking happier than ever.

"Now you can return to Master Hammet, Ivan! Wait…I heard he went towards Lunpa…" Clive said, his face falling.

"I know…Dodonpa wouldn't miss an opportunity like that," Ivan replied, his smile dropping from his face.

"If what they said about Dodonpa is true, then he was surely kidnapped," Isaac hypothesized. Ivan nodded sullenly.

"Hm…but no one can enter the city once the gates are shut…" Clive mused. Ivan looked even more distraught like this.

"But how can I rescue Master Hammet then?" Ivan exclaimed worriedly. Clive held his hands up, motioning for him to calm down.

"Ivan, I'm sure Hammet is still alive and unharmed. Dodonpa knows how valuable a merchant like Hammet is, and is sure to try to extort a ransom from his hometown of Kalay. You can't do anything until Dodonpa makes his move, but at least we know he is safe," Clive explained, which seemed to pacify Ivan a little, at least for now. Then the mayor turned towards Isaac and Garet, who had been patiently waiting. "Isaac and Garet, correct? You have my deepest gratitude. I must leave now, but stop by my house again before you leave town. I have to give you your reward."

"We'll make sure to do that," Isaac called as Clive left the room. With that, the two were left in the room with a very depressed Ivan.

"What a mess. We finally get the rod back, and now this," Garet complained, sighing. However, his eyes softened as he looked at Ivan, who was sincerely concerned for his master and friend. "Man, I wish I could cheer you up. You look so…depressed."

"I'm going to rescue Master Hammet," Ivan spoke up suddenly, his eyes filled with determination. "But I couldn't ask you to help me. You two have a much more important mission to attend to, remember?"

"Yeah, we have to find Felix and the others, or we'll all be in trouble," Isaac replied. Ivan nodded, looking into the blonde's eyes.

"I guess this is goodbye then," Ivan said to him. Isaac nodded, disappointed that he hadn't made an ally out of the young Jupiter Adept after all. However, he was at least happy that he had made a friend.

Ivan looked at the staff that he held in his hand. It seemed to glow with an inner power, yet no matter how hard he looked, Isaac couldn't determine the source.

"I will never forget this town's hospitality or your kindness. I wish you all the best on your journey." Ivan spoke with a sense of finality in his words. He smiled one last time and then left the loft, leaving Isaac and Garet alone.

"Huh. That was an interesting diversion," Garet commented. "Guess we better get going as well."

Isaac nodded and the two left the loft as well, ready once and for all to find Felix, Jenna, Kraden, Saturos, and Menardi.

* * *

Geez, that was one hell of a long chapter. I hadn't expected to take so damn long just on the investigation. But I didn't want to rush anything now that I've come back. I'm all pumped for the next chapter. Give it a week or so, and I'll have cranked another 10000 word chapter, haha.

I'd love to hear your feedback, and once again I apologize for leaving you all hanging for practically a year. I'll catch you all later! Haha…Catch Beads.

Terran34.


	8. The Goma Range

Would you look at this? I updated. Again. In less than a week. I'm very proud of myself. I don't know where all this inspiration is coming from. But yeah, me being the immature freak that I am, sent a picture of the word count to my buddy when it equaled exactly 9001. Just so I could make a reference to that overused meme.

Disclaimer: I don't own this game. If I said that I did, I would have to pay some ridiculous fee. How much? Over $9000!

* * *

Isaac climbed down the ladder of the loft, hopping to the ground. He looked up to see Garet doing the same, albeit more hastily. At one point Garet put his foot down so hard that it slipped off the rung, and Isaac watched in amusement as his friend yelled and flailed about in order to keep himself from falling.

When Garet finally made his way to the ground safely, he glanced up at Isaac like nothing had even happened.

"That would have made the most pathetic death on a journey like this," Isaac commented. "Imagine this. A guy shows up and tells your parents, 'I'm sorry madam, but Garet didn't save the world. He fell and broke his neck off of a ladder before he even left the second village.' How well would that go over?"

"Yeah yeah, go ahead and laugh," Garet muttered, while Isaac proceeded to do just that. "So what are we doing next?"

"We've spent too much time in this village. We need to visit the mayor to get our money, and then re-outfit ourselves at the store. Then we have to get as far as we can to Goma Range before the end of the night," Isaac summarized for his friend. Garet nodded to show that he understood.

The two found themselves greatly esteemed by the villagers now. Everywhere they walked, people seemed to be waving or calling to them. Isaac did his best to ignore them, though Garet seemed to be reveling in the attention, and he began to strut rather egotistically.

"Look at that, Isaac. We're heroes!" Garet remarked. Isaac sighed and shook his head. He didn't really care to draw attention to himself like this, but he supposed it wasn't bad to be appreciated for once.

The two walked up the stairs that led to the mayor's house. Isaac was thinking about how to spend the money he was going to get. They had about 400 coins from the amount that they had left over from the amount Kraden had given them plus the coins gained from monsters. That should be enough for him to outfit them all, but this reward from the mayor couldn't hurt at all.

Isaac was about to knock on the door when Garet beat him to it, drumming enthusiastically on the wooden frame. Isaac raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"Garet, what are you doing?" Isaac asked, annoyed. Garet stopped knocking and turned back to him, a grin on his face.

"Announcing our presence! What else?" he replied, as if it had been obvious. Isaac was about to retort when the door opened to reveal Clive, who smiled at the sight of them.

"Ah, there you are. Come in!" Clive exclaimed, ushering them in with his hands. Isaac and Garet obliged him, walking inside.

"Hey, Mel! Those are the guys who beat up those thieves!" the small boy squeaked from his position on the floor. The smaller girl looked up and squealed in delight, running over to the two. However, Gertrude swooped down on her, preventing her from reaching Isaac, who looked grateful. He wasn't very good with children.

"Now, Mel, don't bother the young men. They don't have time to answer your questions," she chided her daughter.

"I'm glad you took me up on my offer. I haven't yet had the chance to truly thank you for your help, you two," Clive began, drawing Isaac and Garet's attention back to him.

"Ah, don't worry about it. It was something that had to be done," Isaac replied modestly, running a hand through his hair in embarrassment.

"Even so, no amount of money could truly pay back the debt we owe you. Among the items you retrieved for the village was my family urn, whose value is priceless to us," the mayor continued. While he spoke, he walked over to a desk that was set up against a wall. Opening a drawer, he withdrew two small objects from it before shutting it again.

"Clive, are you going to give _that _to them?" Gertrude exclaimed, looking completely shocked. Clive nodded wordlessly, while Garet and Isaac looked confused. Clive walked back over to Isaac. The older man took Isaac's hand and pressed the two objects into it, a kindly smile on his face.

"What did he give you, Isaac?" Garet asked curiously, peering over to look. Isaac opened his hand to reveal a small satchel woven out of leather, and a small vial made of polished brass. Taking the satchel in his left hand, Isaac was able to hear the distinct jangling of coins, which he had expected. The vial, however, he had never heard of. Popping open the cork, Isaac sniffed the contents, and smelled something strange. The only way he could describe the scent was of summer roses on a sunny day after a light rain-shower. His eyes went wide as he came to that conclusion.

"Clive, is this what I think it is?" Isaac asked softly. The mayor nodded. Isaac resealed the vial and held it back out to him. "I can't accept this. It's too much."

"Isaac, what is it?" Garet demanded impatiently. He was ignored, however.

"I insist. As valuable as this liquid is, it is nowhere near as valuable as the happiness of my village. Take it." Clive persuaded, speaking the last two words with determination in his voice. With his two wizened hands, he closed Isaac's fingers over the vial. Isaac could only nod.

"Thank you. We will never forget this," Isaac assured him, placing the vial in a separate pocket in his traveling bag.

"As I will never forget your deeds for this village. Now go. I have the feeling that you have a much larger task ahead of you," Clive returned. Isaac nodded and turned to leave, motioning for Garet to follow. The redhead sighed and did so.

"So what did he give you?" Garet asked yet again as they left the mayor's house behind. Isaac was still recovering from the shock of receiving something so rare and valuable.

"You remember back at school, when they were teaching us about the different types of healing ointments?" Isaac replied.

"Yeah, the herbs and stuff. What about it?" Garet answered, getting impatient.

"Clive just gave us the highest form of healing that we know of," Isaac finished. Garet's mouth dropped open, and he stopped in his tracks.

"So that vial was full of…Water of Life?" Garet exclaimed, rather loudly. Isaac hissed at him to lower his voice, and then he nodded.

"Correct. One drop of this stuff, and all wounds will be aged by several months. If I were to pawn this stuff, which I will certainly not be doing, we would gain over three thousand coins!" Isaac explained, and then he turned to keep walking. Garet followed him, looking dumbstruck at what the mayor had given them.

Continuing on, Isaac turned in the direction of the weapon and armor shop, which was right next to Anna's shop. The shop was built into the cliff like Anna's as well. Before they entered, Isaac added the coins that he had just received from the mayor to their coins, resulting in a total of 700 coins. That was plenty of money for whatever they needed here.

They entered the weapon and armor shop, a bell ringing as they walked in. The merchants there looked up and recognized them instantly as the two who had defeated the thieves with Ivan. The one who stood behind the weapon counter was a tall man, with a muscled body gained from long hours at the anvil. His hair was short and brown, and he had a short mustache that added to his professionalism. The armor merchant was a short, squat man with a balding hairline and a bushy mustache on his upper lip. They both wore wide smiles, both at having customers and at knowing the identity of said customers.

"Welcome, saviors of Vault!" the weapon merchant spoke up first, raising both of his arms in welcome. "Do you have any idea how many coins you saved me just by defeating those thieves?"

"Allow me to say the same! If they had gotten away, I would have lost hundreds of coins," the armor merchant added.

"Glad I could help. Do you mind if I take a look at your weapons, good sir?" Isaac replied politely. The weapon merchant immediately grabbed weapons from below the counter and laid them out on the tabletop.

"Certainly. Let me know if there's anything you'd like." The man answered happily. Isaac motioned to Garet and the two walked up to the counter and began to observe the weapons before them.

There was an assortment of finely sharpened daggers on the table. They were certainly nice, but they were too short to be of any use to them. After all, daggers were no use against those rat monsters or the zombies, whose arms were their weapons.

Next were shortswords, which were double edged and finely tempered, with an even blood channel down the center of the blade. Isaac rejected them for the same reason that he rejected the daggers. They were too short to be of use.

Moving on, there were longswords similar in nature to those that Garet and Isaac used. He wouldn't need to buy any of those.

However, the last weapons on the table caught his eye. They were large, double headed axes mounted onto a steel pole with leather grips. The pole was actually quite short, so the entire weapon looked only bit longer than the longsword.

"Excuse me, what are the advantages to using a battle axe, as opposed to a long sword?" Isaac spoke up. The weapon merchant smiled, as if glad that his expertise was being drawn upon. He grabbed one of the axes gently off the table and held it in one hand, demonstrating its lightness.

"This type of axe is very light. It's about the same weight as your longswords, but it does have a few advantages. Firstly, it has two edges that curve backwards in order to distribute the force of impact away from the point of impact. Therefore, it would last longer and hit harder than a longsword, whose edges tend to be straight. Do you understand?" the man explained. Isaac nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"Secondly, the handle as you see is made of steel, which is much more durable than the usual wooden handle and doubles as a guard, which saves you the trouble of blocking strikes with the blade of the axe, should you choose to use this weapon with two hands. Lastly, the axe can be used with a shield, allowing you to have true damaging force in your dominant hand, with true defense in the other." The merchant finished, looking very pleased with himself.

"Yeah I didn't get any of that," Garet admitted ruefully, causing Isaac to facepalm next to him.

"Yes, but I did. I'd like to exchange our longswords for two axes. How much would that cost me?" Isaac asked. The merchant, looking satisfied, began doing the math out loud.

"The axes usually cost 280 coins and no less, but since you've already saved me hundreds of coins, I'll knock that price down to 240 coins each. Oh, and do you mind if I take a look at your longswords?" the man said. Isaac nodded and drew his sword, handing it to the expert. Garet did the same.

"These seem to be in very good shape. I think I'll take them at 90 coins each. So if I buy them both from you, then that would give you 180 coins. Combined with your purchase, all you would have to give me for this entire transaction is 300 coins. Sound good?" the man concluded. Isaac nodded, handing him the leather satchel that had been given to him by the mayor. That left the group with 400, which coincidently was the same amount that they had arrived with.

The man smiled and handed over two of the uniquely modeled axes to Isaac, who belted one to his waist and handed the other to Garet.

"I think that's everything. Garet, do you have everything you need?" Isaac declared, and then turned to his friend. Garet held up his left hand, which wasn't holding a shield like Isaac's was.

"I need a shield. Oi! Armor dude. Got any shields?" Garet called. The shorter, armor merchant grinned and placed another, albeit differently carved, wooden shield on the counter.

"This suit your fancy?" the merchant asked confidently. Garet turned to Isaac, who handed him their main bag of coins.

"Yes it does! How much?" Garet asked.

"50 coins. Should be easily affordable for folks like yourself," the merchant replied. Garet fished out the correct amount of coins and exchanged it for the shield, which he latched onto his left arm.

"You have no idea how much I've been missing that weight," Garet sighed in relief. Isaac grinned at this, and the two turned to leave.

* * *

It wasn't long before the two were ready to set out for the Goma Range. They had only heard about it from the mouths of other villagers, so it took them a little while to gain a description and the general direction of the place. Everyone was all too happy to help them.

Lastly, the two had to purchase extra food and water supplies from Anna's shop. That had taken a little longer than usual because Garet had intentionally been finding excuses to talk to Anna.

Despite these setbacks, the sun had only just passed its zenith before Isaac and Garet were ready to leave. A group of villagers had gathered at the village entrance to bid them farewell. A lot of them had asked them to stay, but there was just no way the two could even consider that option. However, it was good to know that they had a safe haven if they ever needed it.

With the town finally behind them, the two were able to feel the freedom being on the road, and their spirits were high for the first mile. Then the discomfort began to set in.

The path to Goma Range began to the southeast, where a road was already established. The road lay between a fast moving river that divided them from the forested island that was the only path to Kalay from here according to Hammet; and the other obstacle was mountainous terrain that was too perilous to cross.

Winter was coming, so it was quite chilly in the air that day. The cool air that descended from the mountains was very unwelcome as well, and Isaac relied heavily on Garet's psynergy to keep himself warm.

When night finally fell, they had traveled a good distance, making it to where the road curved up to the north. There was a decently sized expanse of trees that descended from the mountains, which gave them a perfect place to camp for the night. Isaac took first watch that night, letting Garet sleep first.

The next morning they were on the move again. Actually, Garet had woken him earlier than usual due to a lone zombie that had stumbled upon them. The zombie had been rather tough, managing to hold Garet off for a while until Isaac ran to his aid. The investment in new battle axes proved to be beneficial, as the wounds they left tended to be much larger than those left by a longsword, when applied with the same force.

After the zombie had fallen, the group set out again. The river was a constant companion as they followed the curving road, providing them with plentiful fresh water. They never once had to dip into their own reserves of water.

The road soon straightened, heading due north. Isaac and Garet knew form the information that the villagers had given them that this wouldn't last long, since there was a bridge not too far ahead. Isaac wanted to at least reach this bridge before nightfall.

Monsters frequently assaulted them from the same forest that they had camped by the previous night. They were usually rats or zombies, which were taken care of easily enough. It amused Isaac to realize that they were starting to consider zombies as normal.

These encounters hindered them more than Isaac would have liked, but there was nothing he could do about it, as the only other option was to hug the riverside, which wouldn't have made much of a difference.

As night approached, Isaac and Garet finally reached the first bridge that crossed the river to the east. Like the last bridge they had passed, there was a group of people that were living in a small cottage near it. These people were in charge of checking visitors and maintaining the bridge. It would be disastrous for trade and travel if it fell.

The two weren't hindered much except for a few questions about their identity and their business. In fact, this meeting had turned out to be beneficial for the two, as they had managed to extract some information from them in return.

According to them, Saturos and Menardi's party had crossed here no less than two days ago, which had been around the same time their group had left. This invigorated the two, and their pace quickened after their quarry.

After crossing the bridge, they were again caught between a large forest and the river. Garet had complained that all of these forests were pretty much asking for monster infestation, which Isaac had agreed with. However, they didn't have a choice except to make camp for the night underneath the canopy. Garet took first watch this time, as the two had agreed that they would take turns taking first watch before they had even left Vale.

The night passed without mishap, which was a welcome surprise to the duo. The soreness began to set in during the day, and Garet had begun to complain again, while Isaac had merely gritted his teeth and pressed on. They would never catch up to Saturos and Menardi if they continuously stopped for breaks.

The road again curved to the north, which meant that they were on the right track. They could see a large mountain range across the river that stretched the whole horizon as far as they could see. However, they knew from the villagers that this was not Goma Range.

Continuing north, the forest that had kept them company on the left side began to thin. By the end of the third day of travel, the forest had disappeared entirely and the two were now traveling between two rivers. They made camp in the thinnest section of land between the rivers, so that there wasn't much chance of a forest dwelling monster reaching them. Isaac took first watch again, which Isaac was disliked. He preferred to sleep first, so that it would feel like a nap and would have some time to wake up before they began to travel again.

Garet woke Isaac up the next morning, and the two began to travel once again. Isaac was confident that today would be the day they reached Goma Range, and his traveling pace reflected that.

The farther north they traveled, the colder it got. The mountains of Goma Range began to loom on the horizon, which lifted both of their spirits considerably. The road eventually took a turn to the east, passing along side another forest that descended from the Goma Range.

Rat monsters ambushed them almost immediately after reaching the forest. They seemed hungry, which made sense since Isaac had seen no other travelers on the way here. However, Isaac and Garet had long since gotten used to their movements, so they were easy to dispatch.

Moving along the now eastward running road, the two were excited. The mountains were looming closer and closer, so it was assumed that they would reach the foothills by the afternoon.

They reached on last bridge that crossed the river to the east. Again after being questioned by the bridge residents, Isaac and Garet crossed. They learned that Saturos and Menardi had already been here, but they seemed to be gaining on the sinister duo.

As predicted, the sun had just crossed the zenith when Isaac and Garet finally reached the bottom of the Goma Range.

* * *

They entered a small area enclosed by cliffs and ridges. A stream fell in a serene waterfall from a higher cliff and trickled across a clearing.

"Finally! I though we'd never make it," Garet proclaimed, allowing himself to rest against a nearby cliff-side. Isaac sighed and did the same, giving himself some time to catch his breath.

"Agreed. My feet are killing me," Isaac replied. Garet raised an eyebrow at this.

"You? The one who was Mr. strong and silent type during the whole trip? I never heard you complain once!" Garet teased. "So you do feel pain."

"Huh. It's funny to hear that from you. You've got twice the muscle mass I do, and yet you're the one who complained every other step. Explain that one to me," Isaac retorted. Garet opened his mouth to respond, and then let out a sigh.

"Yeah you got me there. I'm not used to all this travel is all. I've never had to walk more than a half a mile in my life, but then we left Vale," Garet confessed.

"Yeah I hear you. It definitely is a new experience," Isaac concurred. Garet grinned at the response, but then he grew thoughtful.

"I wonder how our families are doing? How do you think Dora is holding up? I mean, you were the only family she had left," the redhead mused. Isaac sobered up at this.

"You're right. She's probably crying her eyes out, yet I can't do anything to help her. However, I bet your family is doing worse," Isaac answered, a mischievous glint entering his eyes during his last statement. Garet scoffed.

"Yeah? How do you figure?" he asked. "Pray tell."

"All right. Your grandfather probably has too much time on his hands since he doesn't have to worry about you breaking a hole in someone's roof every other day. Your sister (dear Ramses your sister) is probably bored to tears now that she doesn't have you to beat into the ground when you crush her flowers or something like that. Aaron is probably bored as well since he doesn't have to save you from being beaten into the ground," Isaac hypothesized, which caused Garet to burst out laughing.

"You're totally right! Heh, holes in roofs and crushed flowers. Seems like it all happened a long time ago," Garet reflected. Isaac sighed and stood back up.

"Come on, we've rested long enough. It's time to get moving," the blonde decided. Garet nodded and stood up as well. The two traveled along the stream to see a small bridge that crossed it, although to their dismay, it was broken in the middle by a huge tree trunk.

"That's a problem. Isaac, can we just cross the stream?" Garet observed. Isaac walked up to the stream and stuck his hand in, only to withdraw it in a second.

"Ramses that's cold! Yeah, it's probably a bad idea. The current is pretty swift, it's deep for a stream, and I'd probably freeze to death before I crossed to the other side," Isaac explained. Garet sighed, but Isaac held up his hand to cut off his response. "Hang on, let me try something."

Isaac walked onto the unbroken part of the bridge and glanced at the fallen tree trunk. It seemed to be anchored into the streambed, with the water diverting around it in two different directions in order to keep flowing. It was sticking up diagonally, which would make it perilous if they tried to cross by jumping on it, but it seemed to be their only option.

"Let's try this," Isaac muttered. He used his psynergy to summon a spire of rock and dropped into on the end of the trunk that was in the stream. The rock sank to the bottom and held it there, or at least he hoped.

"Isaac, are you really going to do what I think you are?" Garet asked, suddenly understanding. Isaac ignored him and focused on the narrow surface that was his destination. He bent his knees and then leapt, propelling himself off of the bridge with his legs. He landed on the tree trunk barely, and he wheeled his arms wildly in order to keep his balance. Before he could fall off, Isaac leapt again. He fell short of the other side, but not so short that he wasn't able to grab onto the edge of the bridge on the other side. It hurt, but the blonde was able to pull himself up on the other side. He looked back at Garet, a triumphant smile on his face.

"Come on, Garet! I'm sure you'll be able to do it much easier than me!" Isaac called. Garet shuddered, edging towards the end of his side of the bridge warily.

"I still think you're a madman for trying, but here goes!" Garet yelled, and he leapt off of the bridge. Unlike Isaac, Garet immediately leapt again the second after his foot touched the trunk, and he landed easily on his feet on the other side.

"Wow, I can't believe you made it look so…" Isaac began, but then Garet tripped and fell on his face a second after he landed. "Never mind. I withdraw whatever compliment I was about to give you."

"Hey, at least I landed on the other side instead of hanging on the bridge like you did!" Garet protested. Isaac laughed and walked with his friend along the other side of the stream.

"Yeah, but the way I did it made it look really awesome," Isaac retorted.

"Yeah right," Garet scoffed.

The two soon found themselves at another obstacle. There was a manmade ladder that leaned against the side of the cliff-side, leading to an upper ledge. However, there was another fallen tree trunk obstructing the path to it, and there didn't seem to be any way around it. It also seemed too inconvenient.

"I think Saturos and Menardi know we are coming after them," Isaac observed. "That's why all of these trunks are in our way."

"Really? That seems beneath them. They seem too smart to think that simple trees would stop Adepts like us!" Garet responded.

"Perhaps they are just trying to slow us down. Either conclusion is bad, so help me push this out of the way," Isaac countered. Garet looked confused as Isaac began pushing on the tree trunk with his bare hands.

"Why don't we just use psynergy?" Garet asked. Isaac gave him a look that clearly said, "shut up and help." Garet sighed and helped him shove the trunk out of the way.

"Because I'd rather we save our psynergy. You never know if a monster may attack us during the night," Isaac explained, glancing at the setting sun.

With that said, the two ascended the ladder. They spotted another ladder to the right of this one, so they turned the corner and ascended that one too.

"Hey! There's a cave over there!" Garet exclaimed. Isaac looked over to see an ivy-covered hole in the side of the mountain near the waterfall

"That must be the cave that the villagers said led to the next town. What was it called again?" Isaac deduced.

"Bilibin. Funny name, isn't it?" Garet answered. Isaac chuckled, nodding. As they walked forward, Isaac became aware of yet another obstacle.

The series of ledges that led to the entrance had crumbled away. The only way across was over a gap to a pillar of stone, and then up to the entrance across another gap. However, on the pillar of stone, there was an ivy-covered tree stump that had long since lost its trunk.

"Huh. Guess we got to use psynergy to move this one," Garet suggested. Isaac nodded, moving up towards the edge of the ledge. He then concentrated, holding his palm out. The signature hand that was Move appeared and hovered over to the stump, where it began pushing against it.

However, Isaac began to feel resistance. Surprised, he pushed harder with is mind, but the stump wouldn't move. He released the psynergy, a little drained from that.

"I guess it's no use. It looks like those plants are holding down the stump," Garet guessed. Isaac looked, seeing the ivy and vines that encircled the stump.

"You're right. How are we supposed to get across now?" Isaac demanded, frustrated. Just then, he heard the noise of scuffling footsteps traversing the cliff below them.

"Be silent! We're being followed," Isaac hissed, and then drew his axe from his belt. Garet did the same, and their eyes were trained on the ladder that led up to their ledge.

A shockingly familiar blonde head popped up from the ledge below. Isaac's eyes went wide and he lowered his weapon as the new arrival climbed up onto the ledge where they were standing. The youth muttered to himself and brushed off his multicolored outfit, before locking eyes with Isaac and Garet, a bright smile crossing his face.

"Hey guys! I was looking for you," Ivan called, waving his hand. Hammet's rod was on his back in place of the one he had used back in the town. Isaac looked at him suspiciously. He was supposed to be on his way to Lunpa. Why was he here?"

"Ivan? Why are you here?" Garet asked incredulously, voicing Isaac's thoughts. Ivan's face fell a little.

"I couldn't get into Lunpa…but don't get me wrong, I'm not here to ask for your help," Ivan explained, holding his hands up defensively.

"Then what are you here for?" Isaac asked politely.

"Well, your quest has been on my mind ever since I left Vault. The things I saw in your mind weighed on me heavily. If I can't rescue Master Hammet, then I want to help you. Please, will you allow me to travel with you?" Ivan explained further, his face looking hopeful. Isaac smiled, realizing that his stint in Vault had not been worthless after all. They now had a very powerful ally with a unique ability. Gathering information would now be easier than ever.

"No objections from me. What about you Garet?" Isaac decided, and then turned to his redheaded friend.

"Yeah right! Welcome aboard, Ivan!" Garet proclaimed, and then he ruffled Ivan's hair. The teen looked surprised by the affection, but let it be. He grinned happily at being accepted.

"Of course, we can't go any further because there's a stump in the way. The plants are too thick around it for us to move it with psynergy," Isaac admitted, looking a little foolish. Ivan took a look for himself, and his smile persisted.

"I've got an idea. Check this out!" Ivan announced. The two watched as Ivan took his staff from his back and held it out, the tip glowing purple as he channeled his psynergy through it. The wind began to stir, ruffling their hair.

The plants around the stump began to rustle and shake violently, as if there was a massive current of wind in that area exclusively. A few of the leaves ripped off and began spinning around in a circle at a high speed, forming a miniature tornado of leaves and grass. The wind there became so fierce that the vines and ivy were completely ripped out of the ground and stump and flung into the air.

Ivan jerked his staff to the right, and the tornado moved towards the ivy covering the cave entrance, ripping the obstructive plants free, and clearing their path completely. The Jupiter Adept grinned and released the psynergy, allowing the tornado to dissipate, the plants falling to the ground.

"How's that? Now there's only the cave standing between us and Bilibin!" Ivan declared, looking very proud of himself. Isaac glanced at the stump that no longer had any plants on it. Thrusting his palm forward, Isaac again materialized the white hand of Move and again pushed forward on the stump. This time, instead of feeling resistance, Isaac was easily able to shove the stump off of the ledge and into the stream, where it floated over the waterfall and down the stream.

Garet watched the stump float away in fascination. Then he was the first one to hop over to the ledge. Isaac was glad he didn't trip, because falling from that ledge would probably result in him getting swept back out to the main river.

"Great work Ivan," Isaac finally said. "Follow us. We're going to set up camp once we are in the cave, since we don't have any daylight left,"

"Sounds good. It is nearly impossible to traverse a subterranean landscape in the dark," Ivan agreed.

With that, the three hopped over the series of ledges and entered the darkness of the cave, which was nearly pitch black now that the sun had slipped beneath the horizon.

"Hang on, I'll light things up," Garet spoke up. He held out his hands and ignited a ball of flame between them, illuminating the first room in the cave.

Isaac looked around to see there was a small cobblestone path that extended into the darkness. That was good, since it would keep them from getting lost.

The path forked ahead, but the cobblestones only extended down one fork. The other led to more of the small stream, which flowed outside where it would flow down the waterfall.

"This'll do for tonight," Isaac announced, taking off all of the assorted bags on his back.

With that, the group set up camp for the night. Ivan had brought his own little tent along with them, so the original two allowed him to do his own thing while they set up camp the way they always did.

* * *

Ivan had been elected to take the last watch that night, so he was the one to wake everyone up when the first light of dawn began trickling in through the cave mouth.

"Damn…I didn't get enough sleep," Garet moaned, rubbing his eyes with his fists. Isaac chuckled weakly, though he too was feeling the effects. He wanted last watch, so he already would be awake enough to travel, but that role fell to Ivan.

"Shouldn't have taken second watch then," Isaac commented. Garet only groaned in response. Everyone pitched in to pack up camp, and soon everyone was ready to go once again.

"Let me lead! I've got the light," Garet declared. Isaac respected his reasoning and instead took the role of rear guard, leaving the weaker Ivan in the center.

The group began following the cobblestone path. It would have been too dark to see if not for Garet's fire and the thin beams of light streaming in through small holes in the cave ceiling. However, they came across a peculiar sight. There was a light ahead in the tunnel.

"Wait, what is that?" Garet said, alerting them. Isaac looked to see a faint orange glow in the tunnel ahead. They drew closer to see that it was coming from a small torch that was bolted to the wall. It hadn't been burning for long, which suggested that someone was here not long ago.

"Do you think those two villains left it?" Ivan suggested, referring to Saturos and Menardi. Isaac considered this, but then shook his head.

"I don't think so. Saturos and Menardi are Mars Adepts, if I remember correctly. They wouldn't need torches, since they could just summon fireballs like Garet here," Isaac deduced. "Someone else must have come through here."

"Makes sense. Let's keep moving," Garet responded, and the group set off again.

A silence fell over the three as they traversed the dark depths of the cave. They grew uneasy as the complete absence of any other sound except for their own breathing pressed down on them.

"I don't like this place at all. I feel like we're being watched," Ivan whispered, shivering. Garet shuddered and looked around, suddenly a little paranoid.

"D…don't say things like that, Ivan. You'll give me a heart attack," Garet stammered when he couldn't find anything. Ivan made no reply.

The group halted when they came across a horrific sight. There was a scattering of bones laying on the ground in front of them. The bones were covered in ragged clothes that were torn and rotted and there were ripped coin purses and coins everywhere.

"What the hell?" Isaac whispered. Garet stepped forward and was about to pick up one of the skulls when Ivan smacked his hand with his staff.

"Don't!" Ivan hissed, an unusual amount of urgency in his voice. Almost as soon as Garet withdrew his hand, the skull that he had been reaching for suddenly came alive.

Garet yelped and threw himself to the side as the skull suddenly hissed and launched itself at him. Ivan tackled Isaac to the ground as well, letting the hostile skull pass over them.

"What the…?" Isaac exclaimed, drawing his axe and looking at the floating skull that was reorienting himself for another attack. They were even more surprised when the skull ignited into a blue flame and rushed at them again.

Isaac saw it coming and slashed downwards with his axe, cutting the skull in half. However, this did not stop it. The two halves merely floated in the blue flame and fused with one another, reforming it.

"There's more!" Garet shouted. More skulls began igniting and lifting up off of the ground, several of them growing fangs.

"What are they?" Ivan exclaimed, fending one off with a bolt of lightning. Isaac desperately blocked the attacks of the skull facing him, looking for an opening. However, the amount of skulls in the room increased tenfold, so that there was no way for him to fight back without getting blind sided.

He cried out in pain as a skull bit into his shoulder, the flame burning it and cauterizing it instantly. Ivan heard him yell and ran over to him, ducking a skull as he went. The blonde Jupiter Adept sent a lightning bolt his way, striking the skull on Isaac's shoulder and shattering it.

"There's too many!" Garet shouted, blasting several of them with a wall of fire. It didn't affect them in the least, however. The skulls then circled them, blocking every exit. They were trapped.

Isaac began fighting like a desperate animal, not wanting to face his death in a place like this. They hadn't even found Saturos and Menardi yet! They couldn't die here!

"_Isaac. Hey, are you there?" _Flint spoke up suddenly, surprising Isaac. Isaac nodded, unable to spare the breath for a reply. The blonde cut a skull in half, to no effect. "_Use me. I think I have an idea."_

Obliging the Djinni, Isaac called upon the power of Flint, the blades of his axe turning into the purified essence of earth. Then he launched himself at a skull, slicing directly into it. The sheer force of Flint's power obliterated it, but that was only one of the many that circled him.

"_All right, whew, now that I've been used, I think I can use the latent energy released by my attack to summon something far greater," _Flint continued, sounding breathless. Isaac paid no mind to what he was saying, as he was fighting for his very survival.

"Isaac! What do we do! AGH!" Garet called, but then a skull swept past his leg, cutting into it with a fang. Ivan was on all fours, the skulls having bitten both of his legs.

Before Isaac could answer, something happened. There was no way to describe what happened. The best way he could describe it was…a presence entered the room. Isaac suddenly felt small and insignificant against the sheer amount of ambient psynergy that had just filled the room.

"S…something's here!" Ivan stammered, fending off a flying skull with a whirlwind. Isaac then stared in awe as a manlike figure coalesced into the room. It was translucent, colored yellow, which corresponded to the Venus element.

"What the hell is that?" Garet yelled. The figure had no features, other than the yellow glow. Its face turned to regard the mass of flying skulls that were threatening the lives of the group.

Isaac watched as the figure lifted its hand slowly and then released a blast of pure earthen power, making Flint seem small in comparison. The figure released more projectiles of yellow light, which rushed through the mass of skulls and annihilated every single one, reducing their forms to dust. The figure was gone when the smoke cleared.

The group collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. The fight had been taxing, and all three of them sported a wound of some kind. However, no blood had been spilled, due to the cauterizing nature of the flaming skulls.

"Care to explain, Isaac? That was clearly the power of a Venus Adept," Ivan asked weakly, shifting himself into a sitting position. Isaac opened his mouth to reply, but then yellow balls of light streamed out of his mouth and coalesced into the short, squat form of Flint.

"Hey, you're the Djinni thing!" Garet exclaimed, recognizing it instantly. Ivan looked really confused.

"_Djinni thing? How rude! I'll have you know I'm one of the esteemed Venus Elemental Djinni! Not some "thing" as you put it," _Flint snapped, hopping once indignantly.

"A Djinni? I've never heard of something like that," Ivan whispered, gazing intently at Flint.

"_Ah, so you're the new member of our little group. My name is Flint, an elemental Djinni of the Venus element. I'm going to explain to you all what just happened," _Flint explained.

"Yeah, please do," Isaac muttered as he checked over his wounds. They were pretty painful, but it could have been much worse. Garet and Ivan gathered around the Djinni, listening intently.

"_You see, we Djinni possess great power when used by an Adept such as yourselves," _Flint began. "_But when we release that power, it catches the attention of those infinitely our greater, such as the being that just appeared. However, they generally do not intervene unless the Adept makes it clear that he or she is close to certain death, and calls out the name of the being he or she wishes to summon." _

"Wait, so that thing was a god?" Garet demanded, his eyes going wide as dinner plates. Flint shook its head, which was quite comical looking considering the shape of its head.

"_Of course not. That was merely a demi-god, one of the weakest. Its name was Venus, named after your element. However, some gods are available to summon, such as Ramses or the mighty Knight of Judgment," _Flint corrected. However, it looked surprised at the looks on everyone's faces. "_What?"_

"So you could have summoned RAMSES?" Isaac cried incredulously, sitting up straight, and then regretting it when his shoulder pained him.

_"Hah! As if a display of power as weak as mine would catch the attention of a being like that. You see, you cannot call upon the stronger beings without a significant amount of elemental power. You would need to cast at least one more Djinni seconds after using me to catch his attention," _Flint explained further. Isaac looked down at his hands, unable to comprehend that he could summon the god that he had always prayed to.

"Suddenly I find myself wanting a Djinni," Garet suddenly said, causing Ivan to laugh. Then Garet yelped when Flint caused the ground underneath him to rumble violently, throwing him on his back.

"_Fool! This power comes with a price! A very…very heavy price. As a parting note, since my psynergy is almost used up, these gods and demi-gods do not take kindly to being summoned for petty mortal quarrels. Therefore, they tend to exact a favor you, though the nature of this price varies depending on the god. For example, Ramses may ask you to act as his representative in a meeting between gods, which more often than not ends in the loss of a limb or two. Others may take a strand of your hair, or even take a member of your family as a sacrifice. I even think that Nereid once asked her Adept for a sexual favor…but enough about that," _Flint rambled. Isaac realized that this Djinni could literally ramble on forever once you got him started. However, it was rather informative. Except for the last part. Isaac could have lived without knowing that.

"So…how would one go about summoning this Nereid?" Garet asked innocently. Isaac's face fell hard into his palm, while Ivan turned a shade of pink and looked the other way. Flint regarded him with its beady eyes.

"_One would have to be proficient in Mercury Psynergy," _Flint replied simply. Garet hit the ground with his fist.

"DAMN IT!" he cursed, rather loudly. Isaac sighed in exasperation at the hopelessness of his friend. The psynergy that allowed Flint to keep its physical form then dissipated, the Djinni bursting into yellow colored orbs of light and streaming back into Isaac, who felt much better now that its power was back inside of him.

"I can't believe you just considered sleeping with a goddess. Really Garet?" Isaac commented. "You just hit an all new low with me."

"Low? A goddess is like, the opposite of low. Not to mention the sex would be divine! Heh, get it?" Garet responded, a grin on his face. Isaac stared at him, and then facepalmed so hard that he was sure he left an imprint behind.

"Garet…no. Just…just no. Never again." Isaac muttered, while Garet strutted around looking really proud of himself.

"Are you quite done over there?" Ivan asked impatiently. Isaac looked over to see the blonde cleaning his wounds with a solution made from traveling herbs. That was actually a good idea. Isaac didn't want to think about fighting with his shoulder like this.

So the group spent the next few minutes tending to their wounds. None of them even wanted to think about how close to death they had come. All it would have taken was one bite to the neck, and it would have been over.

"What were those skulls anyway?" Garet asked. His wounds were already bandaged, so he was now collecting the coins that were all over the ground.

"I don't know, Garet. I've never even heard of monsters like that," Ivan replied first, his back resting against the back of the wall.

"I think it had something to do with the eruption," Isaac hypothesized. Garet looked skeptical at this.

"Really? Mt. Aleph is weeks away from here. There's no way it could have affected the monsters here," Garet disagreed. Ivan stayed out of this argument, but he watched them quietly.

"Garet, you must not comprehend the magnitude of that eruption. The Wise One saved Vale, but everything around that was devastated. We've been walking across tiny shards of psynergy stones the entire time we've been journeying. Everything has changed," Isaac reiterated. Garet looked skeptical for a moment while he thought about this, then he nodded, admitting his fault.

"I guess we need to watch out from now on," Ivan stated, summing that entire conversation up in one sentence.

* * *

The group continued down the passage. The path soon intersected with the stream, but there was a convenient little stepping-stone waiting for them to cross. They did so, and the tunnel took a sharp u-turn, so it seemed like they were going back the way they came.

They found another torch in the next room that lit up the entire chamber, revealing two large ledges. One was inaccessible from here, and the other had crude stone steps carved into it.

The three climbed those stairs readily enough, which led to a whole other chamber of the cave. It was fascinating to Isaac how this cave had been designed, as it was clearly man-made. There were stalactites and stalagmites that suggested that this cave had once been natural, but the stairs, torches, and cobblestones suggested that it had been widened and made suitable for travel.

No sooner had they passed into the other chamber than they found themselves descending another set of steps.

"So many freaking stairs! I'd like to toss whoever invented stairs down these stairs," Garet grumbled s they did so.

There was another torch to light the way, lessening the strain on Garet's psynergy. The path took a sharp turn to the left and the group found themselves walking parallel to the stream. They were all too happy to see it again, and they drunk their fill before continuing on.

The next room was much larger, and there were many paths to go. The cobblestones spread to each of these different directions, so they didn't have a good idea of which one to take. To the north of the room were several ledges that were situated high on the wall, so they were inaccessible from here. To the south was a place to cross the stream. To the east, which they were facing, was shrouded in darkness.

The group, after some discussion, took the eastern path. The path soon opened up into a small chamber that was lit by a torch. There were two ledges that were higher up on the wall, and inaccessible. However, the most surprising thing there was the camp that was set up there.

"Someone seems to be camping here," Ivan observed, walking into the campsite. There was only one tent, and a fire was burning in a freshly dug pit nearby.

"Where is the camper?" Garet asked, looking around. That question was soon answered by a yelp from above. All eyes looked up to see a lone man fall from the upper ledge and hit the ground near his tent.

"Damn! I was so close to the top that time!" the man growled. He was a tall man, with a grizzly beard and bushy eyebrows. He looked like he hadn't shaved in a long time, as nearly all of his body was covered in a thin layer of hair. He turned and saw the group.

"Huh. More travelers. What brings you here?" the man asked, seeming not at all surprised at their presence.

"Um…we are passing through to Bilibin," Isaac answered. Then he pointed at the ledge. "What…exactly were you doing?"

"You see, there's something up there. Weird looking critter. Ran away every time I got too close. However, it always comes back to this spot. I'm determined to catch it!" the man responded fervently, throwing himself back at the wall in another attempt to climb it.

"You know you could just find a way up to that other ledge, and then hop over, right?" Garet suggested. The man yelped and hit the ground again.

"Dammit! I did much worse that time. Oh and I already tried that. There were some skellies blocking the way," the man replied. Isaac and Garet looked at each other, wondering what the hell he meant by that.

"Skellies?" Ivan inquired. The man nodded grimly.

"Skeletons. Moving skeletons with swords. I have no idea why long dead guys can run around and fight, but there it is. I call em skellies," the man explained. Isaac and Garet weren't that surprised. If there were reanimated corpses wandering around, then it was only natural that skeletons would be moving around as well.

"All right, good luck with your critter catching," Isaac said to the man amicably, and then turned the other way, motioning for the other two to follow him.

Since that area had been a dead end, the only way left was to travel the southern path. The three crossed the stream by jumping over it, since the stream wasn't that wide at that point.

The path curved and began moving uphill, tiring the group more than it already was. Isaac hoped there wasn't much farther to go, since it was dangerous to be weary in this kind of cave. You never knew where you might be thrust into a fight.

The next chamber they arrived in was much larger than any other so far, as it was home to a sizeable lake. This must have been the source of the stream they were following.

There was also a group of hulking figures blocking the way forward, and as they grew closer, Isaac saw that they were the skeletons they had been warned about.

"There they are! Ivan, hit them after I distract them!" Isaac ordered. Ivan nodded and watched as Isaac thrust out his hand, a yellow glow forming there. The earth twisted and ruptured under the feet of the unsuspecting skeletons, and sharp spikes erupted from the ground and pierced into the bodies of several of them. Ivan took this opportunity to summon a massive bolt of lightning from both of his hands. The bolt struck the entangled skeletons, shattering them.

"Wow, nice teamwork you two," Garet commented, walking over to the bits of skeleton. He picked up the coin purses that they had dropped and went back to the group.

"We can't afford to have another all out fight," Isaac reasoned. "We are already injured. Any more injuries and we might just die in here."

The group then navigated around the lake, which was made easy by the presence of a winding path that circumvented the whole thing. At the end of the path was another tunnel that led upwards, which Isaac took to mean that they were getting close to the exit. At least, he hoped that's what it meant.

At the end of this tunnel was a familiar spot. It was the top of the ledge on the other side of the critter hunting man. It was opposite the one that the man was trying to climb. The group took this chance to see the critter that the man was trying to catch.

It was no normal creature.

"_Is that what I think it is?" _Isaac heard Flint say from within his mind. Isaac looked to see the strangest little creature. Its skin was a bright red, with a yellowish stomach. It was small and thin, with tiny feet and hands extending from its roughly cylindrical body. Its eyes were small and beady, and it had a strange crest that extended down its back.

"What is it? I've never seen anything like it," Garet mused, trying to get closer. The creature, from its position on the other ledge, turned and locked eyes with Garet, who jumped in surprise.

_"That's because there wasn't anything like it until recently. That is a Mars Djinni!" _Flint answered. Isaac nodded and relayed this information to Garet.

"That's a Djinni? Hey! Djinni! I'm an Adept!" Garet called, causing Isaac to metaphorically sweat drop. However, there was no answer from the Djinni.

"Why won't it talk, like Flint did?" Ivan asked curiously. Isaac sighed and prepared to listen to another lecture from Flint.

"_Tell your friends this. Most of the Djinni do not speak, and only exist to serve Adepts that they deem worthy. As for me, I am part of a special group of Djinni known as the Enlightened. We are the strongest Djinni of our kind in terms of attack power, and we are the only ones that can speak. There are eight of us in total," _Flint explained. Isaac did his best to tell his two friends about all of this.

"So how do I get it to join me?" Garet asked cluelessly. However, Isaac didn't get a chance to answer before the Mars Djinni leapt over to the group and attacked.

"Watch out!" Isaac yelled, knocking Garet out of the way. The Djinni summoned a blast of fire and sent it at Isaac, who was able to block it with a wall of stone that he summoned from the ground.

"Why is it attacking?" Ivan shrieked, sending a powerful blast of wind at it. The Djinni was caught in the blast and was sent backwards, but it landed on its feet and glared at a spot on the ground near Isaac. That area exploded with volcanic power, knocking Isaac back into the wall, jarring his wounded shoulder. He cried out in pain. The Djinni sent another blast at Isaac to finish him off, but Garet was there in time to intercept the blast. Isaac screamed Garet's name as the redhead was engulfed in the flames.

Garet's form was revealed as the fire dissipated. He was singed a little, but otherwise completely unharmed. A grin crossed his face, and he drew his axe.

"Heh. Fire won't work on me!" he declared, and then he charged at the Djinni. It retreated, firing blast after blast at Garet. The teen sliced through each blast with his axe, causing the flame to dissipate harmlessly to either side of him. When Garet reached the Djinni, he began slashing wildly at it. It would block with a wall of flames each time he slashed, but the sheer power behind Garet's blows was driving the Djinni back.

In a last ditch effort, the Djinni surrounded itself with a fiery explosion. Garet thrust his arm forward, his hand closing around the thin form of the small Djinni before the blast engulfed the both of them.

As Isaac and Ivan watched, the fire dissipated to reveal Garet holding the Djinni tight in his fist, glaring at it in the eyes.

"Unless you want me to crush you, I suggest you lend me your power," Garet growled. The Djinni regarded the teen with its beady blue eyes, and then its form disintegrated into red glowing orbs of light, which surrounded Garet and went inside of him through his orifices. When it was over, Garet hit the ground and gave Isaac a thumbs-up.

"Check it out! I got myself a Djinni too!" Garet declared, striking a victory pose. The tension of the moment collapsed in an instant.

"You know, you actually were awesome there for a second, until just now," Isaac informed the teen, who looked put out.

"Come on, the hero always has to strike a pose after his victory!" Garet complained, hopping back over to them.

"That's assuming you're a hero. Which is clearly not true," Isaac quipped. Garet looked snooty for a moment.

"Yes, well my Djinni is awesome. It's called Forge! That's a much cooler name than Flint," the redhead declared.

"_No it's not! How could you even say such a thing? Isaac, hit him for me," _Flint snapped from within Isaac's head. The blonde ignored him.

"Whatever. It's good we have another Djinni on our side, but we really need to get moving. Let's go, there's another tunnel on this ledge," Isaac said. The group reconvened and traveled up the next tunnel, which also led uphill.

The path after that was long and winding, passing over the stream several times before finally following along a ledge.

"I can see a light!" Garet called. Isaac looked, and he could see a doorway up ahead where reddish light clearly shined through it.

"It's the outside!" Ivan observed gleefully, rushing ahead. Isaac laughed and followed his friends outside into the setting sun. It seemed they had spent most of the day inside of that cave.

"I think I can see Bilibin in the distance," Isaac commented, pointing up ahead. It was true. The rooftops of Bilibin could be seen just over the line of the horizon.

"However, we're going to rest here first. We need to recuperate for the next leg of our journey," Isaac decided. Garet and Ivan nodded, and the group set up camp for that night.

It had been a very taxing journey from Vault to here. The cave had taken more out of them than they had expected, between the Djinni, skeletons, and killer skulls. They needed real healing soon, or there was a chance their wounds could get infected. Then, there was a very small chance that they would be able to keep the affected limbs.

However, they were one step closer to finding Saturos and Menardi, and ending this farce once and for all.

* * *

And there you go. Geez that was hard. That was really hard to get out. You have no idea how many times I found myself stuck in that cave. Writer's block will be the death of me. How did I get over it you ask? I just went out and bought a Monster and chugged it. Then I had so many ideas, not to mention energy, so I could keep writing.

I have to say it. You have no idea how much I want to have Garet act like Natsu from Fairy Tail and just eat the fire. "Now that I've eaten, I'm all revved up!" But I refrained from making this a crossover. Are you proud of me? XD

**Kamec: **You see this guy? He's amazing. Well, granted I had to prod him to read the story in the first place, but at least he left a nice review that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

*puts Kamec on a pedestal*

There. Now he can be worshipped by the peasants. By peasants, I mean everyone who didn't review.

Anyhow, I'm going to cut this off here and get ready for the next part.

Later,

Terran34


	9. The Curse

All right, it's time for another chapter. It's been forever since the last one. And by forever I mean a few weeks. Which is the longest I plan to go without a chapter. No more yearlong waits between chapters. Which I'm still crying myself to sleep about. Well, not really, but you get the point.

Yes, this needs a whole new paragraph. The freaking Word program for Mac hates me with a passion. Every time I make a fragment sentence, it gets onto me. But I make those fragment sentences on purpose! For example, if Garet is trying to say that something makes sense, he's going to say, "Makes sense." Which Word considers a fragment. Screw that! That's what people say! They don't say, "I believe that what you just said makes sense." Screw you, Word. Screw you. And screw you is not a fragment. And neither is that! Or that! AAAH!

Ok I'm done ranting. Ok is totally a word, Word. Stop correcting me. That's not a fragment! Screw my life! Okay, I'm really really done this time. No, I'm not deleting the repeated word!

Let's just take a deep breath. In…out…okay I'm good. Now, time for the next chapter. Now I have to go through the whole arc with Tret. The tree. With the awesomeness quote about trees. I can't wait to quote that quote.

On a random note, two of those sentences in the last paragraph were considered fragments. SCREW YOU WORD!

Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun. If I did, then everything would have happened exactly like I'm writing it. With Isaac talking and everything. That's not a fragment! AAAH!

* * *

"Up! Up! Get up!" Garet practically screamed in Isaac's face. The blonde opened his eyes instantly, his hand moving to his axe, which was beside him.

"What's the matter? Are we in danger?" Isaac demanded, his sharp eyes glancing over the clearing, but seeing nothing.

"Nope! But look at this! It's so cool!" Garet responded eagerly. Isaac blinked, looking to where Garet was pointing. Sitting next to him was the form of the Mars Djinni that Garet had obtained in the cave. Garet was scratching it behind the ears, and it seemed to be…purring?

Isaac stared incredulously between Forge and Garet's happy face. The blonde restrained himself from punching his friend in the face.

"So you woke me up to tell me that you've domesticated that creature? And that's it?" Isaac yelled at his friend, who looked utterly confused.

"Well, that and it's almost dawn. We've got at least half a day's journey before we reach Bilibin," Garet replied. Isaac sighed, realizing that his words were somewhat sensible.

"Yeah, all right. Try not to be so obnoxious next time. I thought we were under attack," Isaac warned him, walking towards Ivan's tent. The last member of the group stuck his head out of the tent flap, blinking the sleep from his eyes.

"You two are so loud," Ivan commented, crawling out of the tent. Isaac pretended to look offended.

"Loud? Me? I think you're talking about Garet over there," Isaac proclaimed, making an innocent face. Garet spluttered over from his position on the ground, where he was petting his Djinni.

"Hey! You're louder than I am, Isaac!" the redhead retorted. Forge slipped out of his grip at that moment and sat on his shoulder. Garet looked up at it and tried to grab it, but it leapt to his head and chittered at him. Garet wrinkled his brow in concentration and tried to seize it without looking, but the Djinni leapt onto his hand and on to his leg, causing Garet to collapse to the ground in an attempt to grab it again.

Isaac and Ivan watched as a comical scene unfolded. Garet was intent on capturing Forge, who was intent on frustrating him. There even seemed to be an amused glint in the Djinni's eyes as it easily avoided him. The two tumbled over each other as Garet frantically tried to grasp it while it weaved through every gap in his body, such as through the crook in his arm or once between his legs.

Forge finally stood on the ground, chittering tantalizingly at Garet, who growled.

"I gotcha!" Garet yelled, diving at it with his arms outstretched. The Djinni waited until the last second to hop upwards. Garet hit the ground hard and remained still, winded. Forge hopped on his head and sat down, looking incredibly triumphant before it burst back into orbs of light and went back inside of the redhead.

"That entire scene negates your entire argument," Isaac quipped, causing Ivan to laugh. Garet regained his breath and stood up again, looking indignant.

"No it doesn't! It means nothing! Hey, don't ignore me!" Garet cried as Isaac and Ivan began packing up camp.

"Shut up and help us pack," Isaac returned. Garet muttered incoherently under his breath and did so.

* * *

They set out a few minutes later, having fully packed and eaten. It wasn't that far to Bilibin, but they had to make good time in order to catch up with their quarry.

Clouds rolled in not too long after they departed, blocking the light of the sun and covering the grassy landscape in a blanket of gloom. The wind blew in from the north, bringing in the frigid air from the icy lands to the north. Garet again resorted to warming them with his psynergy, although it was much weaker due to his injuries.

It looked like it might rain, so the group quickened their pace in an attempt to reach Bilibin before it did.

It was a short journey, and it wasn't long before the town loomed before them. It was a stark contrast to Vale and Vault, as this one was not housed within a natural valley created by ridges. It was instead tucked next to a single cliff that rose far above the village top, protecting it from potential floods from the river to the northeast. Surrounding it was a line of sharpened timbers that were lashed together by wooden beams and nails. It was a crude, but effective wall that would help in case of attack.

"Why isn't the entrance guarded?" Ivan whispered to Isaac. The blonde looked ahead and sure enough, there was not a single guard in front of the entrance.

"That's a good question. I guess we'll find out. Come on," Isaac replied. The three walked towards the entrance, which consisted of a wooden arch connecting the gap in the wall.

"Hello? People?" Garet called, as they walked inside. There was no answer from the village, which was oddly quiet.

Just inside the entrance, there was a large tree that towered over them. Isaac glanced at it askance, wondering what a tree was doing inside the village, instead of outside.

"Odd place for a tree," Ivan commented, giving voice to Isaac's thoughts. Glancing at it further, Isaac began to make a horrible comparison. There were many roots connecting the tree to the ground. However, two of them, spreading out to either side, were the largest. The trunk traveled upwards, curving inwards near the middle, before branching out into three. Two of them acted like the roots, stretching out to either side. The other went straight up, where it culminated in a bough of leaves. It looked oddly like…

"This tree is creeping me out," Isaac finally said. "It looks just like a man, and…let's just move on."

"Agreed," Garet responded immediately. The group passed the man-like tree and walked to the rest of the village. It was now that they finally saw some people.

There were people of all ages and genders moving around the city, yet the area was as still quiet as a tomb. There was the odd shuffling as people would bump into one another, but there was very little talking going on. The overcast weather only added to the gloomy atmosphere.

"What's going on?" Ivan whispered. "It's like they are all afraid of something."

Isaac shuddered involuntarily, not wanting to imagine what these people could possibly be scared of.

"Leave it for now. We need to heal our injuries." Isaac ordered. Ivan and Garet nodded in agreement and began following him again. Isaac walked up to the nearest individual, who happened to be a young woman, perhaps their age.

"Excuse me, miss," Isaac spoke up. The woman visibly jumped, startled by the sudden sound. She looked frightened out of her mind by the unfamiliar voice. The girl whirled around until she finally saw Isaac. Her cheeks flushed a light red as she tried to compose herself.

"Can…can I help you, outsider?" she stammered. Behind Isaac, Ivan elbowed Garet, who had been busy checking her out.

"Yes please. My friends and I are looking for the Sanctum so we can be healed. Can you direct us?" Isaac asked politely. The girl nodded slowly, and then turned and pointed a door that was built into the cliffside. Isaac went to thank her, but she was already scurrying off.

"I don't do well in such an environment. Somebody crack a joke before I have a heart attack," Garet finally said. Isaac chuckled at his words before turning and walking in the direction of the Sanctum.

"I've never been this far beyond Vault before, but I didn't expect anything like this," Ivan whispered. Isaac agreed. Then again, Garet and Isaac had never even left Vale before this journey.

Climbing the stairs that led to the Sanctum, Isaac wondered what the Great Healer here would be like. Aldric, the Great Healer back in Vale, had been the wisest man in the village, aside from the mayor himself.

Isaac knocked on the door of the Sanctum, and then he quieted Garet and Ivan, who had been whispering to one another behind him. The door opened to reveal an old man in his fifties at least. His hair was gray and long, cascading down his back. He was dressed in a royal purple and red robe reminiscent of Aldric's back in Vale. The headgear he was wearing was nearly identical to Aldric's, which proved his status as Great Healer.

"Come in, travelers. I have been expecting you," the Great Healer greeted them, his old face cracking into a smile. He motioned the three inside. Isaac followed him inside, along with Garet and Ivan.

"What do you mean? I don't think I've ever met you before," Ivan answered, while Isaac was looking around the room.

"I don't believe we've met either," the Great Healer replied, laughing. "However, I've heard of you from the Wise One, guardian of the secrets of Alchemy."

All eyes turned on him the instant he emitted the name of the god from Mt. Aleph. It made sense, since the job of the Great Healer was to communicate with the gods.

"The Wise One? The giant rock thing from the volcano?" Garet exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock.

"It talked to you?" Isaac inquired. The Great Healer nodded in confirmation. He continued walking to the back of the room, where there were several beds set up for extensive care.

"Please, lie down. I'll explain all to you while I treat any injuries you may have," he insisted. Isaac hesitated for a moment, before he decided that he might as well. The bites on his body weren't going to get any better on their own, after all.

Relaxing into the bed, Isaac let out a contented sigh. It had been forever since the last time he'd slept in an actual bed and not the hard ground.

"This was totally worth the monsters," Garet commented, flopping down on the bed. Ivan said nothing, watching the Healer intently from the bed.

"My name is Verne, the Great Healer of this town, and conduit to the realm of the gods," the man announced. "The Wise One contacted me a day after the eruption of Mt. Aleph, and explained to me the crisis that faces the world."

Verne walked over to Isaac first, his hands outstretched. The telltale glow of psynergy began to flow from his hands, which Isaac had not been expecting. He had expected an advanced ointment distilled from herbs, not actual psynergy.

"You have psynergy!" Ivan exclaimed, watching as Isaac's wounds began aging rapidly right before his eyes. Skin and muscle began to reform from the burned bites that had been left by the burning skulls.

"Indeed I do. However, it is nothing like yours. All I have learned to do is utilize what little innate power I have to heal others." Verne admitted. "If I had strength, there would be nothing to stop me from defeating the two you seek myself."

"Saturos and Menardi! Have you seen them?" Garet demanded. Verne nodded grimly.

"They passed through here recently, though I was not told where they were going. The Wise One only told me to care for you once you arrived." He explained.

"Well, you have our thanks for that," Isaac replied gratefully, flexing his healed shoulder. Verne moved on to Garet, turning his healing light onto the redhead.

"I have a question, Verne," Ivan piped up. The old man turned his gaze onto the teen expectantly. "What is everyone so afraid of out in the village?"

Garet and Isaac looked expectantly at Verne, awaiting an answer to the question they also wanted answered. Verne's expression turned grim.

"The curse of the Sacred Tree," the Great Healer responded. When the three looked confused, he continued. "That tree in the village entrance wasn't always a tree. An outsider came here, already beginning to transform. His last words were that he had offended the Sacred Tree."

A silence fell across the room. Isaac had been able to see the man-like qualities of a tree, and it was even worse now that its nature had been confirmed.

"A man into a tree? What kind of creature can do something like that?" Garet exclaimed. Verne finished healing him and moved on to Ivan.

"I do not know any more than that. You would have to speak to the lord and mayor of this village, Lord McCoy, to learn more." The Great Healer replied.

"Absolutely not," Isaac asserted suddenly. Garet and Ivan looked at him in shock.

"What? You're not going to help that man? Ivan exclaimed. Isaac shook his head.

"We don't have time to go running off on some other quest when we have a much larger matter on our hands." Isaac ruled. It was a hard decision to make, but he just couldn't waste any more time running off on silly quests.

"That's pretty cold, Isaac," Garet chided him. Isaac knew he was right, but there just wasn't anything he could do about it.

"You might not have a choice, young man," Verne finally said, interrupting their deliberation. Isaac's gaze shot to him, daring the old man to challenge his decision.

"What do you mean by that?" Isaac demanded. Verne sighed, pulling out a map of Weyard, similar to Isaac's. However, it was much more complete than their own. He laid the map out on a flat surface, showing them.

"We are here, in Bilibin. There are two different paths that the two you seek could have taken. The first is north to Imil, which is usually too cold to traverse safely this time of year. The second is east to Kolima, which is warmer and makes the most obvious course for them to take. However, the sacred tree the outsider spoke of originated in Kolima, so Lord McCoy has set up a barricade to prevent passerby." Verne explained. Isaac looked at the map, noticing that it was also incomplete. They couldn't see much farther than the town of Kolima, which was at the eastern border of the map. Imil was at the northern end of the map.

"Imil? I've heard of that place. I agree, they would have to be mad to head to Imil around this time of year, Mars Adepts or not." Ivan agreed. "Isaac, we may need to do something about this curse after all if we want to pursue them to Kolima."

Isaac glared at the map, not wanting to get involved in this, but he saw the sense in their words.

"This McCoy guy, what's he like?" Garet asked Verne, who sighed in response. Isaac looked at the old man, wondering what had caused such a response.

"Lord McCoy is a good ruler, but he has his flaws. He is frightened greatly because of the curse, and the townsfolk always get worried when their leader is scared," Verne replied. "As for how he is personally, he is a good man who married the wrong woman. This whole ordeal began when his wife expressed her desire to live in a palace of her own, with her own servants."

"Uh oh," Garet spoke up. "I can see where this is going."

"Indeed, young man. Lord McCoy loves his wife far more than she deserves, so he immediately sent messengers to Kolima, the town of lumberjacks. I assume they took their axes to the wrong trees, and the man at the entrance of Bilibin is the result. " Verne continued, proving to Isaac just how much he could talk. Of course, the teen found this all informative. He wanted to know what he was getting into before he agreed to anything.

"So what you are saying is that this "sacred tree" is an entity that struck out in revenge?" Ivan asked. Verne nodded solemnly.

"Lord McCoy believes that this whole thing is his fault, and fears that the curse may eventually reach Bilibin. His wife is less than understanding, and it is a common sight to find her yelling at her husband, or seeking my advice on how to make him continue construction of her palace." Verne explained. "My replies weren't what she was looking for, so she is less than happy with me."

"She sounds like a real piece of work," Garet commented. Isaac concurred with that.

"I understand now," Isaac finally said, gaining their attention. "I assume that the barricade was put up after Saturos and Menardi passed through, so we'll need to get permission from Lord McCoy to pass through. We'll deal with the curse if we need to, but our main objective is rescuing Jenna and Kraden."

"All right! Let's do it!" Garet exclaimed, happy that Isaac had finally decided to do something.

Now finished healing, Verne stepped back and sat down on a fresh bed, visibly tired. It seems he was right when he said that his stores of psynergy were nothing like their own. Then again, Isaac thought, none of them were able to heal to that extent. Isaac knew how, but he had never been as good at it as he had been at earthquakes and rock manipulation.

"Verne, where is McCoy's palace?" Isaac asked, his tone now very business-like. He was ready to get moving now that his stamina was all back.

"It's hard to miss. Just walk outside and look north. It's the largest structure in town," Verne answered. "I wish you both luck. Part of me tells me that your journey will be an arduous one."

* * *

The three thanked Verne profusely for his help, and then they departed the sanctum and re-entered the village. The day was coming to a close, so activity in the village began slowing down. Though it was interesting to note that activity hadn't been that great to begin with.

"Shouldn't we have stayed back there for the night? It's getting rather late," Ivan asked, glancing over at Isaac. The teen looked up at the sun, trying to discern how much time was left in the day.

"We've got some time. We'll head back to Verne's once we speak with this McCoy guy," Isaac replied.

"This Wise One guy is pretty nice. Getting us free lodging and all," Garet mused aloud, completely changing the subject. Isaac agreed, though he was focusing more on what to say to the leader of the village.

Verne was right about the size of the Lord's palace. It towered over the rest of the village, looking totally out of place compared to the other houses. Garet looked up at the structure and scoffed in derision.

"Tch. How vain can you get?" the redhead asked with an edge in his voice. "Why should a guy like this get to live in such luxury when everyone else lives in tiny one room houses?"

"You've got a point," Isaac admitted as they walked through the near empty village. Ivan was uncommonly silent after this comment, which Isaac picked up on.

"Ivan? What's the matter?" the teen asked his friend, who was looking somewhat guilty.

"Well…I was raised in such a palace myself…" Ivan confessed. Garet stopped and turned around, looking at the teen.

"What? Was this Hammet guy that rich?" the redhead asked curiously. Ivan raised an eyebrow.

"You don't know? I'm pretty sure he's the most successful businessman in the world!" Ivan bragged. Garet ran a hand through his hair in embarrassment.

"Yeah, we lived under a rock," he joked. Isaac reached forward and prodded Garet on the shoulder, prompting him to keep moving.

"Except it fell," Isaac said coldly, causing Garet to go silent. Isaac was of course referring to the Mt. Aleph Boulder, which served as a reminder about what they were fighting to defend. Ivan followed the two, looking completely confused.

The group finally reached the palace grounds. Isaac took a moment to look around. The palace itself was fairly simple in construction. It was rectangular in shape, with a round turret at each corner. It looked to be made primarily of brick on the outside, though Isaac was sure that the foundation was constructed of copious amounts of wood.

"Isaac, what's going on over there?" Ivan asked, pointing towards the leftmost side of the grounds. Isaac looked to see a raised area of the cliff, with stairs built into the side. It was a large cliff, easily half as large as the palace before them. Atop it was a large group of villagers. They were hard at work, hammering and sawing at wooden beams.

"That must be the palace that Lady McCoy wanted built," Garet observed. Isaac nodded. That did seem to be the case. The villagers would grab logs from a meager timber pile and would first strip them of bark and branches using saws, and then they would straighten and refine them until they were ready to be used in construction. The villagers seemed to be working hard.

"That must be Lady McCoy," Isaac added, pointing. There was a finely dressed woman wearing a copious amount of make-up standing up there and watching the construction. There was an impatient look on her face, and every so often she would yell at a worker that would be taking a little longer on a particular task.

"Let's hurry up and go inside before I go up there and teach her a thing or two," Garet grumbled, obviously not liking what he saw. Isaac nodded and resumed walking, finally reaching the door.

Two men guarded it. They were dressed in iron armor and visored helmets, which the group looked on with jealousy. They were stuck with these travel vests, which didn't work that well in the long run. They were armed with long spears, discouraging anyone with conventional weapons form causing any trouble. Their eyes snapped to Isaac's group the second they moved within their line of sight.

"Halt!" the first guard ordered, crossing his spear in front of the door. The other guard did the same. Isaac, Garet, and Ivan stopped in their tracks, realizing that these two outmatched them in build and weaponry, so causing trouble would not be in their best interest.

"State your business. Now." The second guard demanded, his voice sounding eerie from within his helmet.

"We're here to speak with Lord McCoy," Isaac replied, while Garet and Ivan looked on. The first guard turned his head slightly to look at the other guard, who shook his head.

"The lord isn't seeing anyone. Leave at once," the first guard snapped. Isaac sighed, though he didn't budge at all. Instead, he decided to point something out to the guards.

"All right, so there's a man turned tree in front of the village that scares the crap out of everyone, and the lord isn't seeing anyone? Somehow I find that hard to believe," Isaac shot back. The guards didn't react very well to his words.

"Watch your tone, kid!" the first guard growled, his free hand moving dangerously close to a secondary blade by his side.

"The lord won't see anyone except capable warriors, not kids like you," the other guard added. Isaac grinned. At last they were getting somewhere.

"We're your guys. We're here to deal with the curse for you," Isaac proclaimed boldly. The guards looked at one another and then laughed derisively. Isaac heard Garet growl quietly from behind him and knew that his friend was angry. Garet never liked being laughed at.

"I see. You're pretty confident, kid," the second guard said after his laughter subsided. The other shook his head and gazed at the group.

"Let me lay it to you straight, kid. Lord McCoy has sent a large amount of men down to Kolima already, and none of them have returned. Every single one of them has been trained in the military arts since birth. What can you do that they can't?" the guard explained. Isaac was about to answer when he felt a flare of psynergy erupt from Garet. Isaac looked over to see his friend glaring at the guards.

"You want to know what we can do? I'll show you!" Garet snapped, and then his body caught on fire. The guards gasped and stared in shock as the redhead stepped forward, flames licking up and down his form.

"Garet…" Isaac warned, though it was already too late. These people probably had no clue what psynergy was, which was why he had never used his powers in public.

"I think I'm strong enough to take on every single guard in this palace. Some tree isn't going to stop me," Garet asserted, daring the guards to challenge him.

"All right! Enough!" the first guard finally shouted. Garet grunted and let the flames disappear from his body. "We'll let you pass. Follow me."

"Jace, are you sure?" the second guard asked nervously. The first guard, whose name was obviously Jace, nodded.

"I should hope so. If the tree gives that one trouble, he'll just burn the freaking thing down," Jace reasoned. Withdrawing their spears from the door, the guards opened it and let the group inside.

Jace led the group inside, heading straight down the center hallway. The interior of the palace was constructed mostly with stone, though there were wooden furnishings, such as bookcases, lining the walls.

Isaac noticed several of the people inside the palace, who seemed to be either guards or servants, giving them curious looks. He grew uneasy, and tried to quicken his pace.

"You guys remind me of the large group that passed through here earlier," Jace murmured as they walked. That caught their attention instantly. "I was on guard duty when I saw one of them burn the skin right off a monster."

"That would be Saturos and Menardi," Isaac replied. "Did you, by chance, find out where they were going?"

"In fact, I did. They told me they were heading north," Jace told them. The group looked at him in shock. So the two weren't going to Kolima after all?

"Wait, they were heading to Imil? At this time of year? Are they mad?" Ivan exclaimed. Jace chuckled softly at this.

"I know right? They aren't going anywhere. An avalanche that occurred not long ago cut off communications from Imil. Even with their fancy flame powers, that's still several tons of snow and ice to melt through." Jace explained.

"Then I don't think we should bother to…" Isaac began, determining that Saturos and Menardi were more important than lifting some curse. However, Garet laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry, you're being overruled, Isaac. If they can't go north for a while, I'm sure we can take the time to help these people. Don't you agree, Ivan?" the redhead told him. Ivan nodded grimly, giving an apologetic look towards Isaac.

"Fine. Just don't blame me if the world pays for it," Isaac relented with bad grace.

At the end of the hallway, there was a large wooden door covered in spiraling black patterns that were painted on.

"Sure doesn't spare any expense, does he?" Garet muttered. Jace hissed at him, shutting the redhead up. Isaac watched as the guard knocked on the door.

"Lord McCoy, sir! Captain of the Guard, Jacellius requesting an audience!" Jace barked. Garet looked at Isaac and mouthed the words 'Captain of the Guard?' Isaac was now glad Garet had put on that little display back there. It seems they had won quite the powerful ally.

"For what purpose, Captain?" a voice sounded from within the room. Isaac raised an eyebrow as he heard the voice. This voice, which presumably belonged to Lord McCoy himself, spoke with a heavy accent that Isaac couldn't identify.

"New warriors, sir. They are here about the situation in Kolima," Jace answered promptly. The door opened to reveal a rather…large man dressed in magnificent clothing. He had a round, pudgy face with a balding hairline and a bushy red mustache. In Isaac's opinion, he didn't look all that regal.

"New warriors yeh say? Bring 'em in," Lord McCoy ordered, stepping back. Jace nodded and ushered the three in now that the lord was out of the way. Isaac and the others formed a line in front of the lord's desk. Garet stood on his right, while Isaac stood on his left.

The room was of course, luxurious. A plush chair made of green leather and polished wood dominated the back of the room, with a large desk in front of it. Lord McCoy sat down in his chair before he turned his beady eyes on the three. The man only looked for about a second before he sighed. He looked incredulously at Jace.

"Are yeh out of your military mind?" Lord McCoy demanded. Jace remained silent, remaining stalwart despite the negative reaction. "They're but children!"

"I believe that they are highly capable children, sir," Jace responded smartly. Isaac couldn't help but admire the guy's self control. However, Lord McCoy was still not impressed.

"Pah! Because of their overpriced toys? I've sent many a man intae Kolima, and not a one has returned," the lord scoffed. Then he finally turned his attention towards the three. "Yeh expect me tae believe you can save Kolima?"

"Trust me, we are stronger than the average warrior," Isaac boasted. Lord McCoy didn't look convinced.

"Well, I'll grant yeh're a brave lot," the lord admitted. He reached into one of his pockets and removed a key from within. He held it up, letting the polished brass catch the light.

"Yeh need a key tae get past the barricade in the east, but I doubt yeh'll reach Kolima even with it," he said. "Yeh really think yeh can handle it?"

"Yeah! We're not children anymore!" Garet snapped. However, Ivan looked a little nervous. Isaac picked up on that rather easily.

"Ivan, you don't look too enthusiastic," Isaac observed. Garet peeked over at the teen as well.

"I'm just worried is all. Do you really think we stand a chance against a curse that can turn a man into a tree?" Ivan confessed. Isaac sighed. Why was it that the one who agreed to take on the curse in the first place was now having second thoughts, while he was finally ready to do it? It seemed like the tables had turned.

"Of course we do. We've come this far on our own, haven't we?" Isaac answered. Lord McCoy watched the exchange between them with interest.

"Hell yeah! This simple curse gave Saturos and Menardi no trouble on their way through, and if they can take it, we definitely can!" Garet proclaimed confidently.

"Well, it looks like I'm overruled," Ivan commented, running a hand through his short hair.

"At least you all agree on something," Lord McCoy interrupted, bringing attention back to him. The lord made as if to give Isaac the key, but paused in mid motion.

"What troubles you, sir? They seem willing enough," Jace inquired. Lord McCoy sighed, and replaced the key in his pocket.

"Yeh act all confident and tough, but yer naught but wee children! Aye, these are desperate times, but I cannae send such wee lads tae their doom," he finally said. Isaac's hopes fell after hearing this. However, Jace took a step forward.

"If we don't send them, what will happen to Kolima?" Jace demanded. The lord shook his head, his mind made up.

"We cannae give up hope on our other champions," he answered, though that answer satisfied no one."

"But what about us?" Isaac demanded. He was rather stubborn when he'd made up his mind on something, and he had already decided that he was going to deal with the curse.

"I already told yeh. I cannae send yeh intae certain doom," Lord McCoy stubbornly replied.

"What if we said we were going east anyway? Come on, give us the key!" Garet protested.

"Yeh can go once things have settled down." The lord shot back.

"But we can't just sit here and do nothing!" Ivan pleaded. The lord sighed in frustration and gestured to Jace.

"Ach, it's fer yer own good, laddie. I dinnae want tae talk about it anymore. Captain?" Lord McCoy countered. Jace looked apologetically at the three, and walked in front of them.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I have to escort you out now," Jace informed them. Disheartened, Isaac turned the other way and let the captain show them the way out.

The group walked in silence as Jace led them back down the hallway towards the exit of the palace. Isaac was already thinking of ways of getting past the barricade forcefully, and he was sure that Garet was too. However, it didn't seem like all hope was lost.

"Your name was Isaac, right?" Jace asked once they were outside the castle. Isaac nodded, not really feeling the need to speak. "Look, I'm sorry you were rejected. I never expected anything like this curse to happen to Bilibin. Can you promise me you won't go to Kolima?"

"Honestly?" Isaac snapped, turning around to face the man. "No. I can't. If your lord won't take that stick out of his ass long enough to help us, we'll force our way through."

"Hell yeah! You go Isaac!" Garet cheered from behind him. Jace was silent for a moment. His gauntleted hand reached up and lifted his visor, revealing the face of a man in his late twenties. A grin crossed his face, and he couldn't help but laugh.

"You're definitely persistent. Tell you what, I think I can even help you along your way. Come with me," Jace replied. Surprised, Isaac and his friends followed the guard along a path that went along the side of the palace.

Several trees and bushes lined the back end of the palace, which rested up against the cliff side. Jace used his spear to push the foliage of a leaning tree out of the way, revealing the entrance to a cave.

"This is the palace treasury. Take enough coins to outfit yourself for the journey. Call it a gift from me," Jace explained. Isaac looked at him in shock.

"You're just going to let us take money from the palace treasury?" Isaac asked.

"Isn't that kind of risky? What if we went overboard and took too much? Not saying that we would or anything, but still." Garet added.

"I trust you guys to get the job done. With your kind of power, I doubt even I could stop you in a fight. Don't worry. I'll pay out of pocket for whatever you take. I have too much money anyway," Jace replied.

"That's awfully nice of you. Thank you," Ivan commented.

"No kidding. Thanks indeed." Isaac added. Jace nodded and ushered them down into the cave.

"There's also a little something I think people like you could use. Take care!" the captain of the guard called down after them. Isaac didn't quite know what he meant by that, but he pressed on anyway.

The cave went down by way of carefully chiseled stairs for a few meters before it would take two sharp right turns and head down again. There were torches on the wall at regular intervals so it was easy to see where they were going.

Before long, they found themselves in a large room. Isaac looked around in awe at the stacks and stacks of coins lining the walls. There were hundreds of thousands of coins here, more than Isaac had ever seen in his life.

"It's a lot smaller than Master Hammet's," Ivan commented. Garet gave him such an exasperated look that Isaac couldn't help but chuckle.

"Really…just…really? Try not to flaunt your wealth you know. Might be nice." Garet commented sarcastically. Ivan flushed in embarrassment, mumbling an apology.

"How many coins do we have, Garet?" Isaac asked. Garet took out a large bag from his pack and glanced into it.

"I think around a thousand," the redhead answered after a moment of counting. Isaac did a bit of quick math. If things here cost the same as they did back in Vault, then they wouldn't need that much. However, Isaac decided to play it safe and add in a bit to account for any rise in price. Then, he added just a bit more to give him some breathing room in case money got tight after a while.

"Hm…Garet? Gather up another four thousand coins. Wait…make it five thousand." Isaac ordered. Garet nodded and crouched next to a particularly large pile of coins. Ivan knelt beside him, helping him gather up the coins.

"Mwahaha…money money money…" Garet gloated under his breath as he piled coins into the bag.

"Try not to sound like a total miser, will you?" Isaac joked. Garet ignored him, instead turning to Ivan.

"Ivan, are there enough coins in Hammet's treasury so that you could swim in them?" Garet asked randomly. Ivan blinked, wondering what had brought that on.

"Um…I guess, but I've never really felt the urge," Ivan answered slowly. Garet grinned mischievously.

"That's it. When slash if we ever get to your hometown, we are sooo swimming in his treasury. Just because we can." Garet declared. Isaac couldn't help but facepalm. Only Garet.

When they finally finished gathering up the money, they prepared to leave. However, before they could take a step towards the exit, they heard a loud chirp from the adjoining room. It didn't sound like any bird they'd ever heard. Two things then happened at once.

"Shut up shut up shut up!" Garet yelled at himself. "Isaac, why is my Djinni chittering in my head!"

"_Did you hear that, Isaac?" _Flint spoke up, waking up from his slumber. Isaac nodded.

"What was that, Flint? A Djinni?" he asked.

"_You betcha! Go get it! You can use all the Djinni you can get!" _Flint answered. Isaac grinned, walking towards the adjoining room.

"It's a Djinni! Come on, you two." Isaac ordered, waving back at them. Ivan and Garet ran after him, and then the three rushed into the room.

The Djinni was standing in the middle of the room on its feet, which looked like nothing more than spikes. It had a short, squat body that was colored purple, which was being held up by two tiny wings, which were constantly flapping. Like the Mars Djinni, this Djinni had a long crest on its head. It had two beady blue eyes, which fixed on them the second they entered the room.

"Purple…Ivan, this one's for you!" Isaac called. It seems that the different Djinn were color-coded rather obviously. If Venus were yellow and Mars were red, it only made sense that Jupiter and Mercury would be purple and blue, respectively.

"I hope it doesn't attack me," Ivan stammered, stepping closer to the Djinni. It let out another chirp as it spotted his movement. "Nice Djinni…nice Djinni…"

Ivan finally reached it. It never fled from him, which bolstered his confidence a little. The teen knelt down and tried to touch it, but the second his fingers touched its skin, it burst into purple orbs and flowed into him through his mouth, which knocked him over.

"_Does it talk? Does it?" _Flint asked excitedly from within Isaac's mind. Isaac sighed and walked over to Ivan, extending his hand. Ivan took it gratefully and rose to his feet again.

"Flint wants to know if it talks," Isaac repeated in a bored voice. Ivan paused for a moment, and then shook his head.

"No, it just sort of chirps," Ivan answered ruefully. "I do know its name though. Its called Gust."

"_Ah I know him. He's the wannabe. He's pretty strong, but not as strong as the Enlightened." _Flint explained. Isaac raised an eyebrow, despite the fact that Flint couldn't see it. Wannabe didn't seem to be an accurate term to describe a Djinni with.

"This is pretty awesome. All of us have a Djinni now!" Garet proclaimed. Isaac let himself smile, knowing that they had gained a little more power, and with it, a better chance of defeating Saturos and Menardi when they at last met one another.

* * *

The next thing on the agenda for the three teens was to again check the armor and weapon shop. Ever since their ill-fated journey into Sol Sanctum, Isaac had decided that he wanted to be as prepared as possible for any situation. With that in mind, he knew that there was always a chance the shops could hold something invaluable.

When they walked into the shop, it was immediately obvious that this was a good idea.

"Wow, Isaac! Look at all that stuff!" Garet exclaimed, pointing. The merchants who were tending the counter chuckled as they heard this. Isaac looked and was impressed. Ever since Vale, the group had been wearing the green travel vests, but it had become clear after the incident in Goma Cave that these would no longer suffice. Up on the walls were leather breastplates, gloves, and even a shield that looked like it was made of bronze. There were many more weapons and pieces of armor lining the walls, with price tags hanging off of them.

"This is definitely more advanced than Vault," Ivan commented. Garet grinned and elbowed the teen lightly.

"But not as advanced as Kalay, right?" Garet joked. Ivan, however, missed the intention of the remark.

"Of course! We have a…wait…you were making fun of me, weren't you?" Ivan accused. Garet laughed at this, while Isaac was looking up on the wall.

"Welcome! Larson is my name. Something I can help you with, sir?" the armor merchant asked after he noticed Isaac's interest.

"Yes, actually. We are travelers looking for the best armor and weapons we can get. Do you have any recommendations?" Isaac inquired curiously. Larson beamed, happy that his expertise was being asked. The first thing the merchant did was look over Isaac and his friends, seeing what they were wearing.

"Hm, you have some primitive gear there. You would definitely benefit from a change of wardrobe," Larson began. Isaac didn't mind the insult to his clothing. After all, Larson was still a merchant looking out for himself. "Your travel vests, although I do carry them myself, are inferior for individuals of your size. You should purchase these leather breastplates!"

Larson took down one of the breastplates from the racks and laid it on the table. He began turning it over and pressing down on it to show its durability.

"It's flexible, but strong. In comparison to your travel vests, these breastplates are guaranteed to protect you from glancing blows. They are held together by metal rivets, like you can see here, so there's no worry of having it come apart in the middle of a battle." Larson explained. Isaac looked over the material in approval. The teen looked back at Ivan and Garet.

"Think I should get three of them?" Isaac asked them. Garet nodded emphatically, but Ivan looked uncomfortable.

"Erm…I'm a bit small in build to wear something that heavy," Ivan admitted. Garet and Isaac looked at him incredulously.

"What? Really?" Isaac asked, not believing that leather could be that heavy. However, Larson intervened.

"Excellent deduction, good sir!" Larson replied, his compliment directed towards Ivan. "One of your build would suffer a penalty in movement, as leather is much heaver than a travel vest. I have just the thing for you."

The three looked as Larson reached below the counter and pulled out what looked like a travel vest, only it was much longer and thicker.

"This is a travel tunic. It is one designed specifically for people like you. While it does not have the added protection of the breastplates, it will be invaluable in a tough fight, while still being light as a feather! On a side note, it is very warm. Invaluable if you plan on heading to Imil…which I sincerely hope you're not." Larson continued, laughing a little at his own joke.

"That sounds good. So far, we'll need two breastplates and one travel tunic. Anything else you recommend?" Isaac asked. Larson nodded.

"The next thing I'd like to draw your attention to these gloves. They are made of leather, which is much stronger than the padded gloves I see you wearing," Larson started, pulling out three sets of leather gloves. "Your gloves are comfortable, but can be sliced apart like butter, and the last thing you want are bloody hands. Weapons tend to slip right out of them. These leather gloves will hold out and even deflect glancing blows."

"I like what I see! What about shields? Do you have any shields?" Garet inquired, looking up on the racks. Larson grinned.

"Indeed I do, good sir. You are going to love this. My shields are made of bronze! Yes, you heard me. I made my shields out of bronze, which is much stronger than the wooden ones you have," Larson replied, taking out a shining bronze shield from underneath the counter.

"Yeah, and less likely to burn," Garet muttered. Isaac chuckled a little at that.

"This is better than any shop we've seen so far. So in total, here's what we'll be buying: two breastplates, a travel tunic, three pairs of leather gloves, and two shields. How much would that cost us?" Isaac summarized, taking the coin bag from Garet, which was a lot heavier than usual. Larson did a bit of quick math in his head and then grinned.

"In total, all of these fine pieces will cost you two thousand, three hundred and forty coins. However, I'd be willing to take all of your old armor off of your hands for half of their original selling price," Larson replied. Isaac expected that much, and was already removing his travel vest.

"How much would our total be then?" Isaac pressed. Larson watched as the group removed all of their old armor, leaving them in their original cotton clothing. He then scanned the pieces, noting the minor damage and scrapes on all of them.

"Hm…I think these could do with a little fixing up. However, I won't let that affect the selling price. In total, this would take your price down to two thousand, two hundred and ten. Sound good?" Larson said with finality. Isaac nodded. They had 6000 coins thanks to the generosity of Captain Jacellius, so this would leave them with still quite a bit of coin. To be precise, they would be left with 3790 coins.

With that, Isaac handed over the necessary amount of coin to the overeager businessman, and received a powerful set of new armor for his person. The first thing Isaac did was don the leather breastplate, which fit him well. He liked the comfortable weight it put on his shoulders, and he felt strong.

Once they were all decked out in strong new gear, Isaac decided to get a better weapon for Ivan.

"Ivan, can you use a sword at all?" Isaac asked curiously, turning to face his friend. Ivan looked a little unsure, but nodded.

"I was trained somewhat during my time in Kalay, but I can't wield anything huge like you do," Ivan replied. Isaac nodded. It seemed that in terms of fighting style, Ivan focused more on his usage of psynergy than actual physical battle. He was physically weak, but mentally strong. That was good to know.

"Hey, Larson! Do you stock any light blades for my friend?" Isaac called, facing the merchant again.

"I wouldn't know. Armor is my specialty. You should ask my brother Charles," Larson replied apologetically. He then turned to face a door that presumably led to the storeroom. "Oi! Charles!"

There was a loud thump form the back room, and then a clattering. A string of colorful curse words followed the loud noise. Larson chuckled after hearing this. The other merchant stumbled out of the storeroom with an irritable look on his face.

"Larson! I told you not to bother me when I'm hanging up weapons! It's dangerous!" Charles yelled at his brother, who looked like he wasn't paying attention.

"Yeah, that's nice and all, but we have customers here looking for some weapons," Larson replied calmly. Charles sighed and looked over the counter to see Isaac and his group, who were waiting patiently.

"What do you need, stranger?" Charles asked rudely, but changed his tone when his brother elbowed him sharply. "What can I get you today?"

"A light blade for my friend, please," Isaac repeated, getting impatient. Charles promptly walked back into the storeroom.

"I'm sorry about my brother. He's a warrior at heart, and the only thing he wants to be doing right now is helping with the situation in Kolima," Larson admitted, giving them both an apologetic look.

"How ironic. That's what we are getting ready to do!" Garet spoke up. Larson snapped his gaze to the redhead in shock, his eyes widening. He opened his mouth once, and then shut it. He appeared to think for a second.

"Then I'm glad you decided to gear up in our equipment to do it," Larson finally replied. Isaac gained some respect for the merchant, since he hadn't commented on how young they were. In fact, that was probably the only thing he could have said without causing offense.

"How diplomatic of him," Ivan whispered to Isaac so that Larson couldn't hear. Isaac nodded in agreement.

"So why am I getting a sword again?" Ivan asked in a louder voice. Isaac sighed, turning back to him.

"You only have that rod Hammet asked you to find. Am I right when I say it's important to you?" Isaac began. Ivan nodded, resting his hand on the staff, which was on his back. "A staff can't block blades and claws without risking damage. A blade can."

"Makes sense," Ivan admitted. Charles chose that moment to walk back into the room with a short, curved blade.

"This is a hunter's blade. Do you want it? It's five hundred and twenty coins," Charles grunted. Isaac nodded, passing over the coins and giving the blade to Ivan. This transaction left them with 3270 coins.

"All right, I think that's everything! Shall we return to the Sanctum?" Garet declared, turning to Isaac. The teen nodded. With that, the group turned around and began to depart the shop.

"Good luck," Larson called after them with a serious look on his face. "Come back alive, you hear me?"

"Will do, Larson," Isaac replied, smiling back at the man.

* * *

It was already dark when they left the armor shop. The moon shone clearly down on them, bathing the three in its gentle silver light. The group started walking in the direction of the Sanctum.

Verne welcomed them back into the house without a single objection. He even fed them dinner in addition to promising them use of the house whenever they needed it. It was good to know that the three always had an ally in this man.

Once dinner was over, it was time to sleep. Isaac fully intended for the group to get up at the crack of dawn in order to gain as much ground as possible the next day. It didn't take them long to fall into slumber, as they had done a lot of things that day which had tired them out quite efficiently.

* * *

The next morning, Isaac woke everyone up as soon as light began to appear over the horizon. It was a quick matter to get dressed in their new armor and weapons, so it wasn't long before they were ready to head out. They bid Verne goodbye and left the Sanctum, heading for the village exit.

However, they were met with quite the surprise when they reached it.

"What are all those soldiers doing?" Garet asked, pointing at the entrance to the village. Isaac looked and saw a huge amount of soldiers, possibly enough to account for the entire village militia. They were arranged in a dual line formation, forming a corridor through the village gates.

"Good question. I thought they were all too afraid to go near there. You know, because of the…tree…man…thing," Ivan answered.

"I only hope they don't try to stop us," Isaac growled. His hand went to the handle of his battle-axe just in case.

"Captain Jacellius, sir! Here they come!" a soldier's voice called out. Isaac recognized the name of their ally in the militia, and his eyes widened. Were they really…?

"Ten hut!" the captain's voice called out from the top of the village gates. Isaac looked up and could see their friend standing there with his visor up.

"No way…" Garet whispered. At the sound of their captain's voice, every soldier stood up straight, their hands grasping their spears.

"Hai!" the soldiers chorused in response to their captain's order. As soon as Isaac and his friends reached the corridor of soldiers, Jace slammed the butt of his spear on the gate.

"Present arms!" he commanded. With that, the soldiers mirrored his action before holding their long spears diagonally forward before them, crossing with the spears held from the soldiers in the other line. Isaac was looking at a tunnel of soldiers and spears, a formation that he had read about before, but never seen. It was a sign of great respect from the military to a single or group of individuals.

"This is…I don't even know what to say," Ivan gasped. Isaac began to walk through the tunnel of spears, looking around at the soldiers in awe. Their visors were all shut, so he couldn't see their facial expressions.

When the three finally exited the tunnel of soldiers and spears, the captain gave the order for the soldiers to return to standing at attention. Jace turned around and gazed down at Isaac, a calm smile on his face.

"Good luck, my friends. May the Gods be on your side," Jacellius, Captain of the Guard of Bilibin, called down to them. Isaac smiled back at their ally, waving a hand up at him before moving along.

"Do you know what the funny thing is?" Garet finally commented after a moment of silent contemplation of what had just happened. All eyes turned to him expectantly, waiting for his no doubt insightful comment. "The Gods actually _are_ on our side."

Isaac couldn't help but snort with laughter. The group allowed themselves a short moment of merriment, which ended not long after it began. Garet was correct in a sense. Not only was the Wise One contacting others with warnings and orders, the Djinn could call deities from the heavens as well.

Their spirits lifted dramatically, the group set out for Kolima with their heads held high.

* * *

So there we go. Yeah, I know on my profile I said that I was going to include the trip to Kolima in this chapter, but I decided that since it had already reached my 9000-word minimum, I should cut it off here.

If you noticed, I included a cleverly hidden little Star Trek reference in there. Well, not so hidden. Those of you that know Star Trek should know Dr. McCoy, right? "Are you out of your Vulcan mind!" I had to put a reference to him in there. I mean, come on. Lord McCoy? I HAD to. End of story.

As for Jace, he actually isn't a character in Golden Sun. Well, he is in a sense, but he is generic and the only words that I took from his original script was the part where he asked them to promise him not to go to Kolima. His character stuck with me, so I decided to give him a larger role. Yeah, I know his letting them into the treasury was a bit of a stretch, but I needed a way to get money, and I decided to explain it by saying, hey, he's the captain of the guard. 5000 coins isn't anything significant for him. The military salute I wanted to add since he trusted in their integrity and their power, and honestly wanted to respect Isaac and his friends for their choice to save Kolima.

Larson and Charles XD You know I'll have to give every shop owner a name, since I hate having huge conversations while referring to them as "the man" or "the woman." Their characters built themselves, since I really didn't plan for them to turn out the way they did.

Anyhow, long author's note is long. I have to put a few people on pedestals. Give me a moment.

**kinglumption**: Interesting name you have there. I'm glad you took the time to review. It makes me happy to know you enjoyed my earlier chapters, though I myself look back on them and think that they need more work. Of course, the editing will come AFTER I finish the story. Though it may be two years before it is finished. And yeah, you totally called it. I'm SO tempted to add a MiaNereid lemon now. Anyone support me? Anyone? Ha, I don't think I will since I'm still a little awkward about posting lemons. But you still get a pedestal.

**zmon**: Whoahoho yeah you'll get a TON of chapters. Each town and dungeon is going to get its own chapter. So count that all up and you'll get a minimum. Thanks for your kind words, and to answer your question, I don't know why I chose Ramses as being the replacement for OMG, but it just sort of happened. Maybe it is because Garet has no idea who Kirin is yet. Who knows? I didn't want them to call out to Venus, since he is one of the weakest summons in the game. Just fyi. Also, you get a pedestal.

Yeah. If you review, you get not only a pm answering your questions and comments in detail, you get a detailed shout-out so that everyone can see my thoughts on your review.

Later,

Terran34


	10. Laurel's Wish

Okay! I'm back and ready for another chapter. I'm determined to finish this story. No, you don't understand. I've NEVER finished a story in my life. Fanfiction or otherwise. That sounds pretty sad when I say it like that, but its true. I always run out of inspiration or time, and then I hit writers block. Yet I am DETERMINED to finish this story. I'm pretty much using this as an outlet for any emotion I may feel. If I'm mad, I write. If I'm happy, I write. It's a way to lose yourself.

Anyhow, enough of the self centered bullshit. Let's hurry up and get started.

Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun. If I did, then I would make Camelot make me a sandwich. But since the table in front of me is quite sandwich…less…I realize that Camelot in fact owns me. *rushes to go make Camelot a sandwich*

* * *

"First things first," Isaac spoke up, not long after they left Bilibin behind. Ivan and Garet rushed to catch up with him, since Isaac was walking faster than them. They looked at him expectantly.

"We're going to head straight east until we hit the river so we can refill our canteens," Isaac began. Garet glanced at him in confusion, his free hand reaching up to his hair and scratching his scalp absentmindedly.

"Why? We just got some water from Verne. Do we really need to refill?" Garet asked curiously.

"That's easy to explain. When we reach the river, we can drink all we want, as well as get a decent bath. Then we can refill back to the top and get going, following the river the whole way. Right Isaac?" Ivan explained, looking to Isaac for confirmation.

"Exactly. You're pretty sharp, Ivan," Isaac commented, smiling at his friend. Ivan laughed a little in embarrassment, scratching the back of his head.

"Wait a freaking second! When I make a good call, you ignore me. When Ivan makes a good call, it's 'you're pretty sharp, Ivan!' What's up with that?" Garet snapped, though it was more in sarcastic humor than in actual anger.

"You have yet to make a good call," Isaac quipped, causing Ivan to laugh from next to him.

"Hey, that's not true!" Garet protested. Isaac began to strut obnoxiously, which only served to aggravate Garet more.

"Forge says otherwise," Isaac replied, referring to the incident where Forge had proceeded to annoy the hell out of Garet while he and Ivan had watched.

"Come on, man! Did you really have to bring that up?" the redhead muttered. Isaac just chuckled and kept walking.

The group lapsed into silence after that. Isaac looked up at the heavens and realized that the weather hadn't changed since yesterday, and it didn't appear to have rained last night.

"Huh. I think it might rain before long," Isaac observed. Unlike before, there was nowhere nearby to take shelter, so there was no choice but to bear it if it did happen.

"Aw, don't say that," Garet responded instantly. He let out a long groan as he too looked at the sky.

"I actually happen to like storms," Ivan commented. Isaac and Garet gave him wry looks at this. "What?"

"You would like storms, Mr. I'm-going-to-shoot-lightning-at-your-face," Garet remarked. Ivan raised an eyebrow at the ridiculous nickname.

"That was quite a mouthful there, Garet. Did you practice it in the mirror last night?" Ivan replied calmly. Isaac gazed at the teen with a new respect, as he had totally not expected Ivan to come up with a comeback like that. Garet opened and closed his mouth like a fish, and then he laughed.

"Wow, totally didn't see that coming from you," Garet commented. "Isaac, I think you have competition."

"Less like competition and more like an ally," Isaac joked, patting Ivan on the shoulder fondly.

"Oh no, I'm doomed," Garet responded sarcastically. With that, the three friends shared a good laugh and continued on their way.

* * *

It was only about an hour and a half before the group reached the river. At this point, the river made a sharp U-turn and began flowing east, rather than west.

"All right! Set your stuff down here," Isaac declared when they finally reached the riverbed. Here, the current was slow and the river was wide. This made it perfect for bathing purposes.

"Oh good! I'm really looking forward to the bath!" Garet cried, throwing his bag down on the ground. He immediately began to remove his leather breastplate. Ivan eyed the water warily, setting his own bag down next to Garet's.

"I don't know, it IS winter. I bet its freezing beyond belief," Ivan commented. Isaac set down his considerably heavier bag, letting out a sigh. He had accounted for the fact that the water would be cold, but he believed that he was hardy enough to deal with it.

"Being cold is better than being filthy," Isaac reminded him. With that, Isaac lowered his shield to the ground and removed his battle-axe from his side.

"That's true…but I'm not looking forward to this at all," Ivan fussed. Garet, who was now shirtless, draped an arm around Ivan, who looked none too happy about it.

"Don't worry. I'll make it warmer just by my being in it," Garet assured him, a giant grin on his face. Isaac, who had just removed his leather breastplate, snorted with laughter.

"More like you'll scare away the fish," Isaac quipped. While Garet was busy being indignant, Ivan managed to worm out of Garet's clutches and retreat to a nearby bush, where he began to remove his own clothing.

Garet hopped behind a bush so he could remove his lower garments, which Isaac was grateful for. For obvious reasons.

Isaac shivered as he removed his shirt and the cold air impacted with his unprotected skin. This was probably a bad idea in hindsight, but there was no going back now. All of the grime of travel was beginning to build up on him, and he hated it.

"It's freezing out here!" Ivan complained from behind his bush. The response was a scoff from Garet.

"Look at this! Only real men can handle extreme cold! Allow me to demonstrate!" Garet boasted. With that, the now nude redhead, slipped into the water. Isaac watched, wondering just how much Garet was going to complain once he came up for air.

When Garet's head bobbed to the surface, he was grinning. He held up his arms.

"See, look! The water's warm!" he told them happily. Isaac blinked. He had not been expecting that. He couldn't even see goose bumps on the teen's skin.

"That's bullshit. That is total bullshit," Isaac called back, removing his own lower garments.

"I'm going to regret this. I really am," Ivan squeaked from behind his bush. Isaac turned the other way out of respect for the teen's privacy as he dashed out from behind his bush and jumped into the water. It wasn't long before Ivan poked his head above the surface of the water with a completely bewildered look on his face.

"What is it, Ivan?" Isaac called, wondering why Ivan wasn't complaining about the water.

"It's…it's very warm….and comfortable," Ivan answered slowly, as if he couldn't believe it himself. Isaac blinked.

"No freaking way," Isaac challenged. Garet looked extremely proud of himself.

"I told you! I'd make it warmer, just by being in it! Fire Adepts are the best!" he bragged. Isaac was speechless. Garet was warming the water with his psynergy?

"That's a grievous misuse of your psynergy, Garet," Isaac scolded, slipping into the warm water himself. He let out a contented sigh as the water caressed his whole body. However, he was taken by surprise as Garet splashed him.

"Stop complaining, or I'll let you freeze," Garet teased. Isaac spluttered, spitting out water. His now wet hair fell over his eyes, obscuring his vision. He glared at his friend, who was grinning from ear to ear. Isaac stared intently at the riverbed, and then jerked his gaze back to Garet. The grinning teen yelped as mud tore itself from the shore and slammed into him with enough force to knock him into the water.

"Now who's misusing psynergy?" Garet shouted in mock anger as he surfaced, his face covered in mud. In retaliation for the earth-based attack, Garet leapt onto his friend and began to wrestle with him like they used to do back in Vale.

"Oh it's on, fire boy!" Isaac declared, rising to the challenge. Ivan scratched the back of his head and laughed heartily as he watched the spectacle before him.

It didn't last long before Garet declared himself the winner by pinning both of Isaac's arms behind his back. It wasn't that surprising, seeing as Garet was twice his size.

"Ha! I win," Garet boasted. Isaac grinned suddenly, and then Garet yelped as he was tugged underwater.

"No you don't. You're standing on the ground. As long as that fact is true, I will always win!" Isaac countered. Garet broke the surface, spitting out water.

"That was dirty!" he protested. Isaac reached underwater and pulled up some mud from the river bottom.

"Literally," Isaac commented, and then they both shared a laugh over the awful joke.

"You know, you two should probably try to get clean now," Ivan commented from his position a good three feet away from the two. He was rubbing his skin with a large pebble in order to get all of the grime off so that it could be swept away by the river.

"Crap, he's right!" Garet exclaimed, and then he dived underwater to search for a similar pebble. Isaac just smiled and let out a sigh as he glanced at his two friends. It hadn't been very long since they started journeying together, but he wouldn't trade them for the world.

* * *

"So, we're headed south now?" Garet asked, looking over the map, turning it every which way to try and get his bearings.

"More like southeast," Isaac corrected him. Garet sighed and gave the map to Ivan.

"You look at it. I can't figure it out," the redhead grumbled. Ivan chuckled and easily fixed the map so that it was right side up again.

After their bath, the three had dressed back up in their armor again and set off, feeling significantly cleaner than usual.

"I wonder if the guards at the barricade will try to stop us?" Ivan wondered aloud. Garet scoffed.

"Doesn't matter if they do. I'll burn the damn thing down if they try," he responded, cracking his knuckles. Isaac chuckled.

"Yeah, and bring the forest down with you. Imagine how happy this "Sacred Tree" thing would be then," he joked. Garet paled as he remembered what the tree could do.

"Yeah, I don't wanna be a tree," he commented. After that, the group went silent again, saving their energy for walking rather than speaking.

* * *

The rain poured down as night fell, soaking the trio. Their spirits fell with the rain. The wind and rain was freezing. Ivan did his best to redirect the wind around them, but he couldn't do much without expending a huge amount of psynergy, which he wanted to avoid in case he needed it later.

The rain drove them to shelter against a rocky cliffside. The cliff was a part of a large hill that was on one side of the road. A tree grew on its summit. The roots spread out so wide, that they trailed off the cliff and buried themselves into the ground on the bottom. It made a very convenient shelter from the wind and rain.

"Would you look at that? I don't blame this tree guy for freaking out. Trees are useful!" Garet commented as he set his back against the cliffside. His bag was next to him on the ground, which was dry thanks to the roots hanging overhead.

"Indeed. We are quite fortunate to have this tree here," Ivan concurred as he began gathering loose wood and brush. "Garet, can you help me light this?"

"Huh? No problem," Garet answered, and then he lit the campfire with a snap of his fingers. Isaac began laying out the bedrolls, which were made of a soft fabric knitted by his own mother for the trip.

"What's for dinner?" Ivan asked, looking at Isaac for a decision. The blonde sighed as he finished with the bedrolls. He began rummaging through his pack until he found the traveling rations that he kept wrapped up.

"Bread and cheese, or dried meat. Your choice," Isaac replied with mock cheerfulness. Garet let out a loud sigh.

"I hate travel food!" he complained loudly. Isaac shrugged and passed some bread and cheese to Ivan, who took it gratefully.

"It's better than no food," Ivan admonished him. Garet grumbled anyway and took the food from Isaac when it was offered to him.

Isaac took a bite of his bread and gazed out into the darkness, watching the rain fall. He was reminded of that day, three years ago, in a storm not unlike this one.

A lightning flash lit up the surrounding landscape, followed by a loud thunderclap. In Isaac's mind, all he could see was the condescending faces of his mortal enemies, Saturos and Menardi. He slammed his fist against a tree root angrily.

"Something wrong, Isaac?" Ivan asked, walking over to the teen. Isaac sighed, not looking at him.

"Not really. I just want to catch up with Saturos and Menardi already," he confessed. Ivan nodded, understanding.

"I understand how you must feel. I know what happened all of those years ago," Ivan consoled, resting a hand on Isaac's shoulder. The teen cringed, but relaxed when he didn't feel the intruding presence of Ivan's mind-reading technique.

"Yeah, I forgot you read my mind back in Vault," Isaac responded. Ivan chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"It was a good thing I did! I wouldn't want to leave you guys to struggle on your own," Ivan protested. Isaac chuckled a little to show that he didn't mind at all.

"So who's taking first watch?" Garet called from behind them. Isaac turned around with a grin on his face.

"I get last watch!" he called, causing Garet to curse.

"Second!" Ivan added in a second afterwards. Garet sighed, resigning himself to taking first watch.

"Dammit! I'm tired!" Garet complained, moving to sit on a large rock near the edge of the camp.

"Deal with it. Don't fall asleep on watch or we're all dead," Isaac murmured as he laid down on his bedroll.

"Yeah, let's get some sleep, Isaac," Ivan whispered as he got comfortable on the soft fabric.

Isaac didn't reply. He laid on his back, staring up at the roof of roots overhead. He let the drumming of the rain lull him to sleep, trusting Garet to keep them safe.

* * *

"Isaac? Come on, wake up. It's your turn to stand watch," Ivan whispered, shaking the sleeping teen lightly. Isaac stirred, opening his eyes slowly. The first thing he saw was Ivan's tired face looking down at him.

"All right. You get some sleep, Ivan," Isaac mumbled, hoisting himself to his feet.

Ivan nodded and went to his bedroll. Isaac sighed and picked up his axe, which was sitting next to his bedroll so that he could reach it easily in case of an attack.

The teen went to the rock where Garet had been sitting when he took first watch and sat on it, setting the axe on his lap. Grabbing a small rock from the ground, Isaac began to sharpen the blade, though it didn't really need it. He just needed something to do.

Rain still fell in a steady drizzle, though it was not as hard as it was last night. He couldn't see any lightning, so it would be safe to travel today.

"Still pretty dark out," Isaac whispered to himself, gazing into the darkness. The only light was from the campfire, which Garet and Ivan had obviously kept burning throughout the night.

"_That it is, Isaac. The nights are much longer now that it is winter," _Flint spoke up suddenly, surprising Isaac.

"You're awake, Flint?" he asked curiously. He didn't know much of Flint's sleep schedule. All he knew is that he slept a lot, waking only when a Djinni was nearby or in combat.

"_Yep! I'm always awake at night, when the rest of you are asleep," _ Flint replied. Isaac blinked.

"Huh. I didn't know that. So you are nocturnal?" he pressed.

"_Not really. I like to sleep a lot, but as per your request, I don't sleep when you do so that you don't share my dreams," _Flint reminded. Isaac shuddered as he remembered the horrible dream he had back in Vault.

"Thanks for that. I don't share your…hearty appetite," Isaac joked lightly. Flint chuckled as well, which sounded rather weird coming from a Djinni.

"_Though being awake at night is interesting. Your friend Garet talks in his sleep," _Flint informed him. Isaac groaned softly, resting his face in his hand.

"I'm not sure I want to know," he commented.

"_You really don't. Suffice to say, he really likes women," _ Flint explained. Isaac sighed, though he was not all that surprised.

"That's Garet for you. He really needs to control that part of himself," he remarked.

"_Like you do?" _Flint asked. Isaac remained silent for a bit before answering the Djinni's question.

"It's not that I don't appreciate women. I just don't need any other girl than…than Jenna," Isaac confessed. He went ahead and confided in the Djinni since it was a part of his mind and would find out anyway if it really wanted.

"_I see. So that is why you want to stop Saturos and Menardi so badly?" _Flint replied, his tone understanding. Isaac nodded.

"I want to stop them from destroying our world, but I can't hate them for being misguided. I just hate them for daring to lay a hand on her," Isaac growled, sharpening his axe with an furious intensity.

"_I can understand that. It's sort of like my attachment to Mist," _Flint compared. Isaac, shocked, sputtered.

"Wait a minute! You Djinni have relationships?" Isaac exclaimed. Flint scoffed indignantly.

"_Of course! We aren't just super powerful beings who like elements, you know. We are living creatures as well, and therefore have the capacity to feel higher level emotions, just like you," _Flint explained. Isaac was surprised, and he found himself looking upon Djinn in a whole new light.

"So I guess I shouldn't refer to you as an 'it' then. 'He' it is," Isaac responded apologetically. "So tell me about Mist. What is she like?"

"_Ah, I could spend the rest of today telling you about her wonder and beauty, and I wouldn't even come close to scratching the surface," _Flint said dreamily. Isaac chuckled a little.

"Humor me, would you?" Isaac pressed.

"_She is one of the Enlightened, just like me. She is one of the strongest Mercury Djinn I know," _Flint began. Isaac listened with interest, since he didn't know all that much about Djinn.

"_She is incredibly strong, able to draw upon the power of the Adept using her and adding her own strength to it. She has a mesmerizing gaze that can put you right to sleep if you let her. She and I spent a lot of time together before Alchemy was sealed. It has been a long time since then, but I remember how she could get me to do anything just by smiling at me," _Flint went on.

"Sounds like Jenna and I," Isaac commented, referring to how she would smile and he would be unable to oppose her at all.

"_I remember when…Isaac!" _Flint began, but then cut off. Isaac's head jerked up, surprised.

"What is it?" Isaac asked urgently, grabbing the hilt of his axe.

"_There is a zombie nearby. It has seen your campfire and is coming to investigate," _Flint warned. Isaac stood up instantly, grabbing his shield off of his back and slipping his left arm into the strap. It wasn't long before he could hear the telltale shuffling walk of the zombie.

"Can I count on your help?" Isaac asked grimly, gripping his battleaxe firmly in his right hand.

"_Of course. Use me as you see fit. I'll let you know the best time to use me," _Flint responded. Isaac grinned and ran out into the rain, intending to hit the zombie before it could disturb the others.

When he saw the zombie, Isaac was surprised by its girth. It was huge, perhaps larger than even Garet in size. It had huge muscles whose width was larger than Isaac's head. Its teeth were chipped and broken, yet still had razor edges honed from tearing human flesh.

"What the hell? Why is it so large?" Isaac commented, stopping just out of its line of sight.

_"Good question. I conjecture that it may have mutated upon contact with a psynergy stone, but that's only a guess," _Flint guessed. Just then, the zombie spotted Isaac's form and let out a roar, which was surprising considering how decrepit its vocal cords should have been. It charged at him, its claws outstretched and eager to rend his flesh.

"I don't think so!" Isaac snapped, thrusting his right hand forward and focusing. The ground at the zombie's feet began to roil and shake, knocking it right off of its feet and sending it flying forward. Isaac sidestepped it as it flew. At the same time, he brought his right foot back and pivoted, turning to face the zombie. He brought his axe down on its back as it flew past, leaving a deep gash in its skin.

"I'm not done!" Isaac growled. Using both hands, Isaac ripped several spires of rock out of the ground and hurled them at the zombie, impaling it in several places as it tried to rise. Surprisingly, this didn't seem to slow the zombie down, as it rose to its feet and charged back at Isaac.

When he tried to sidestep again, the zombie surprised him by grabbing his shoulder as it passed and throwing him across the field and onto the road. Isaac cried out in pain as he hit the ground and rolled a short distance before he felt the brick of the road on his back.

"_Don't be careless, Isaac. Never assume that a monster is too stupid to adapt to your movements," _Flint advised him. Isaac winced and rose to his feet.

"Thanks Flint, I'll remember that," Isaac groaned as he inspected his shoulder. There was a small cut in it, but nothing serious.

"_Here it comes!" _Flint warned. Isaac turned and saw the zombie rushing out at him, its claws outstretched.

"Rock wall!" Isaac shouted, his hands thrusting forward. Several slabs of stone erupted from the ground and impeded the zombie's progress. That wasn't the end of it though. By concentrating, Isaac shattered the slabs into smaller rocks and then directed them at the zombie.

Isaac watched in satisfaction as the rocks collided with it and pinned it to the ground.

"_Now, Isaac!" _Flint shouted. Isaac nodded and brought his axe down to his right, calling upon Flint's power. His axe blades wavered and then reformed into pure yellow energy, which shined brightly in the night.

The zombie struggled underneath the rocks but was unable to move in time before Isaac brought his Djinni-empowered axe down upon its neck, slicing its head clean off.

"_Good one, Isaac!" _Flint praised him. Isaac wiped the rain out of his face and sighed, sheathing his axe at his side.

"So much for a peaceful watch," Isaac muttered, walking back to the camp, where the others slumbered peacefully.

Isaac sat back down on the rock and sighed, laying back so that he could catch his breath. He had used a significant amount of psynergy in that fight, so he needed to rest up for a bit.

"_You used a lot of psynergy, Isaac. You need to sleep," _ Flint informed him. Isaac shook his head.

"I can't sleep. I need to watch," he replied, although he would much rather sleep. He was surprised as Flint flowed out of his body and coalesced on the rock next to him.

"_I'll watch for you. Now get some sleep," _Flint offered, gazing up at Isaac with its beady eyes.

"You can do that?" Isaac asked. Flint hopped once.

"_Of course! My own personal supply of psynergy can last me at least an hour. And I'm sure the sun will rise soon," _Flint answered. Isaac sighed and thanked the Djinni before heading back to his bedroll. He stretched out and shut his eyes, allowing sleep to take over his mind once more.

* * *

Isaac was woken when the Djinni merged with his mind once again. He opened his eyes to see the first light of dawn peeking over the horizon.

"_I'm going to sleep now, all right? I wish you luck," _Flint told Isaac before going silent. The teen nodded and moved over to Garet and Ivan, who were slumbering peacefully.

"Come on guys, time to move!" Isaac yelled. Ivan was the first to wake, and he immediately began to pack up his stuff. Isaac then walked over to Garet and yelled wordlessly in his ear.

"Ah! Kay, I'll buy you a new flower garden! Wait wha? Isaac?" Garet mumbled senselessly as he woke. Isaac sat down and began laughing at his words. Garet was dreaming about his sister. What a nightmare!

"Time to go. Come on!" Isaac repeated. Garet sighed and began to help pack up the camp.

"Hey Isaac?" Ivan said as he rolled up his bedroll. Isaac looked over at the teen, who looked rather flustered.

"What is it, Ivan?" Isaac asked curiously. The teen looked rather queasy, which was odd considering he just woke up.

"Is it normal for an Adept to share dreams with their Djinni?" Ivan asked rather nervously. Isaac sighed and patted the teen on the shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, but the answer is yes. How bad was it? Were you eating a frog like I was?" Isaac told him. Ivan shook his head.

"No, I dreamt I was the wind. I mean, I wasn't flying, I WAS the wind," Ivan explained. Isaac looked at him jealously.

"No fair! How come you get to be the wind, and I have to eat frogs?" Isaac demanded. Ivan chuckled.

"I haven't had any dreams yet," Garet muttered, almost as if he wanted to share a dream with his Djinni.

"Trust me. That's a good thing," Isaac assured him, though the redhead was not convinced.

Isaac put out the fire next by covering it in rocks, and then put on his bag, now ready to move. Ivan and Garet were ready soon after that, and they moved out into the open air.

"Aw, it's still raining," Garet complained. Isaac felt the light rain pelt his face, but it wasn't as bad as it had been yesterday.

"It's not too bad," Ivan objected as the wind blew his hair out of his face. Isaac agreed with that.

"Come on. We've got some ground to cover before we reach the barricade," he told them as they returned to the road. Garet was about to reply when he noticed the motionless body of the giant zombie.

"Wow, that's one hell of a zombie. Which one of you took it out?" Garet observed, gazing at it in awe before stepping over it.

"I did. There was only one of them, so I didn't bother waking you," Isaac answered.

With that, the group resumed their journey towards the village of Kolima.

* * *

The path soon narrowed as the river swerved towards them, forcing them to walk closer to the southern part of the Goma Range, which they were following. Isaac had expected something like this, as the pass would have to be narrow indeed for Lord McCoy to have set up an effective barricade.

However, the proximity to the mountains came with its own set of problems. Monsters such as large birds, zombies, and rats would descend from the rocky slopes to harass them frequently. The birds, which were a new enemy for them, were much easier to combat than would be expected, as Ivan was quite a good shot with his lightning bolts.

The rain finally stopped completely as the path narrowed further, and the clouds peeled away to let the sun shine down on them, though it did little to lift the temperature.

The barricade finally came into sight as the road took a sharp turn to the north.

* * *

"That's the barricade? It doesn't look like much," Garet commented as they approached the structure in question. Isaac looked ahead and took in the barricade's features himself.

The path was so narrow between the river and the cliffs, Isaac was sure that five people would be able to stand shoulder to shoulder and would have no room to move. It was nothing more than a jumbled pile of boxes and wooden slats that were nailed together, with a door haphazardly placed in the middle of it.

"It looks like a kid threw some boxes down," Ivan observed. Isaac laughed at the comparison. It didn't seem like Lord McCoy had much wood to work with, seeing as everything had been thrown together like this.

"I guess he was too scared to go back to Kolima Forest for wood?" Isaac conjectured.

"Makes sense. That tree or whatever would have made him into fire wood," Garet added.

The three moved forward until the guards in front of the barricade spotted them. One of them had a small pigeon resting on his hand, which was eating out of his palm.

"That was quick," the non-pigeon-holding guard commented. The other guard looked and saw the three coming.

"No kidding. I expected at least a day's wait," he added. The trio reached them, confused as to what they were referring to.

"Were you expecting us?" Isaac asked curiously, wondering how they could have heard about them so soon.

"Yes sir. Captain Jacellius sent us word of your arrival by way of carrier pigeon," the guard answered. "We're to let you through to Kolima."

"That makes things easy," Garet commented. "Now I don't have to burn down the barricade."

Ivan hissed warningly at Garet and elbowed him, but the guards just laughed.

"We'd appreciate it if you didn't, good sir. This barricade does do some good by keeping the helpless merchants and civilians from getting transformed," the second guard said.

"Speaking of which, be on your guard after you pass through here. There are many transformed people on the other side," the first guard warned. The atmosphere grew somber as he said that.

"Don't worry. We'll save them," Isaac assured them, now fully determined to end the curse, no matter what it took. The guards nodded thankfully. The first guard let the pigeon fly to the top of the barricade so that he could unlock the door for them.

"There you go. Don't cut any trees if you want to live," the guard advised. The three thanked them for their help and passed through the barricade to the other side.

The first thing they saw was trees scattered all over the clearing in no particular pattern. They were all similar to the one outside the entrance to Bilibin.

"These are…people…" Ivan whispered, gazing in horror at them all. Isaac remained silent, his mouth set in a grim line as he walked through the transformed individuals.

"This is horrible," Garet said, resting his hand on one of the trees. Isaac motioned for them to keep moving. He didn't know how safe it was to dwell in a place like this.

As they followed the path to the right, they noticed something rather strange. There were three trees...that seemed to be growing on top of each other. Their leg-like roots would be entwined around the "necks" of the trees beneath them.

"What the hell?" Garet sputtered, looking at the…interesting…spectacle. Ivan walked up to the tree and laid his hand on it.

"What are you doing, Ivan?" Isaac hissed, looking around them warily. Ivan shut his eyes for a second, and then he burst out laughing.

"Ivan? Are you okay there?" Garet asked, wondering if their friend had suddenly gone insane.

"The…the tree…." Ivan managed to get out between laughs. "All it can think about is how heavy the others are on top of it!"

"Wait what? He doesn't care that he's a tree?" Isaac asked incredulously. Ivan motioned for them to come closer. Isaac did so, wondering what he was going to do.

"Take my hand, Isaac," Ivan requested. Isaac did so warily. As he did so, Ivan pressed his free hand onto the tree and shut his eyes, probing the tree with his mind.

"_Damn you Nelly! Why the hell are you so heavy? I TOLD you to go on a damn diet BEFORE we left for Bilibin!" _came the voice of a middle-aged man in Isaac's mind. He couldn't help but laugh at the sheer senselessness of it all.

"What? Let me hear!" Garet protested. Isaac let go of Ivan's hand and let himself laugh. Ivan then let Garet hear the thoughts of the tree as well, and it wasn't long before the three friends were helplessly laughing.

"That…is the most…oblivious tree…ever!" Garet said, finally managing to compose himself. Isaac managed to stop laughing and he stepped away from the tree.

"Come on, you two. Let's move before another random tree distracts us," Isaac ordered them with a wry grin on his face.

"Agreed," Ivan concurred.

* * *

The rest of the day was spent heading due east, trapped between the mountains and the river.

It was boring, if you didn't count the monsters that descending from the mountain. In fact, as the group approached the bride that crossed the river to the north, Garet could be heard stating just that.

"This is boring!" Garet complained loudly as he trudged stolidly along behind Isaac. The teen sighed again. Garet had been complaining the whole time since they left the barricade.

"Garet, this wasn't meant to be a picnic," Isaac snapped back to him, then immediately wished he hadn't. Now Garet would use it as an excuse to keep complaining.

"No, but I would really like a picnic! Doesn't that sound really good?" Garet pressed.

"That does sound really good, actually," Ivan piped up.

"You're not helping, Ivan," Isaac groaned as Garet began strutting triumphantly. Ivan laughed nervously as the three grew closer to the bridge.

"I wonder if anyone at this bridge has seen Saturos or Menardi?" Garet mused.

"If anyone is left," Isaac added grimly. "They might all be trees."

As they reached the bridge, Isaac was proven right. A light covering of trees that were shaped like humans covered the bridge, as well as the banks on either side.

"You were right to overrule me, Garet," Isaac said suddenly as they picked their way through the trees.

"Wait, are you admitting I was right?" Garet gasped overdramatically, a grin on his face.

"Yes. I can't let things stay as they are. These people deserve to be free," Isaac answered seriously, causing the grin to drop from Garet's face.

"I agree. These people had families. They don't deserve to pay for all eternity for the sins of one misguided lord," Ivan concurred.

It was silent for a few somber moments as the depressing atmosphere pressed down on them. The air seemed heavy, as if they could feel the emotions of the trees.

"How much further to Kolima?" Garet asked nervously, trying to break the horrible silence. There was a shuffling sound as Ivan brought out the map and began looking at it.

"Not far. We'll probably be there by nightfall," Ivan answered. Garet sighed, and looked up at the sky. The sun was already past its highest point, since daylight was short during winter.

"Good. That's about an hour maybe," Isaac affirmed.

* * *

The trio managed to reach a fork in the path as the day began to grow dark. There was a mountain range to their northeast, but it was surrounded by a large amount of trees. They had finally reached the Kolima forest.

"Look at it all! It's massive!" Garet exclaimed, referring to the forest as a whole. Evidence of woodcutting was present on the fringes of the forest, which cast a shadow over the beauty of the surroundings.

"I can see why it would make sense to gather wood here," Ivan commented. Isaac didn't say anything, as he looked to see which way they should go. To the north, the path stretched on for a while before reaching a gap in the thick forest, which would allow entrance to the inner foliage. To the east was a series of massive trees, with a fence surrounding them. As soon as Isaac saw the fence, he began walking in that direction.

"This way, you two. I can see Kolima from here," Isaac called. Garet and Ivan scrambled to catch up with him.

"The city is made out of trees?" Garet asked, nonplussed. Isaac assumed so, as he couldn't see any houses.

"I think so. The trees look large enough to be carved into," he replied. The three walked into the village and looked around. There were man shaped trees all over the town, which were considerably smaller than the houses themselves, which were indeed built into the massive trees. Isaac could see doors and signs carved into the sides of the trees, which had been scraped free of bark for sanitation purposes.

"It's so quiet. It's unnerving," Garet whispered. He was right. Isaac couldn't even hear the chirping of the birds, or even the crickets. There was none of the usual sounds of village life that there should have been.

"Everyone here has been turned into trees. Could this "Sacred Tree" really have done all of this?" Ivan asked in horror as he walked around, resting his hands on the trees he passed.

Isaac walked past a large tree and noticed something. There were sparkling bits of…something lying all over the ground. It seems Ivan had noticed it too, since he was looking all over the place.

"You see it too, Ivan?" Isaac asked, just to confirm.

"Yeah. This sparkling stuff all over the place. What is it?" Ivan mused aloud. Garet moved to touch one, but decided better of it.

"They don't look like psynergy stones," Isaac observed. He too was smart enough not to touch it with his bare skin.

All of a sudden, something changed. Their vision suddenly went red, and Isaac felt a presence similar to Ivan's mind read, only it was much more malevolent and forceful.

"Aah! What's going on?" Garet screamed, his hands going to his head. Ivan fell to his knees, his face red with the effort of keeping the presence out.

"Something…something is attacking my mind!" he shouted, and then he hit the ground. Isaac felt a spike of pain in his head and he yelled out wordlessly. The pain became much more intense in a matter of seconds, and then he hit the ground, no longer able to stand.

"I can't….I can't stand…" Isaac groaned. The pain then left, but their vision remained stained with red. He tried to move, but he couldn't. It wasn't a lack of energy that was stopping him, but a lack of feeling. He couldn't feel his body at all, and trying to flex his muscles in order to move got him nowhere.

"Look! Something is falling from the sky!" Garet pointed out. Isaac was on his stomach, so he could only see a peripheral view of the sky. However, he could see something sparkling falling in a steady shower, and it was heading directly for them.

"Could that be what turned everyone into…we have to get out of here! Now!" Ivan screamed. Isaac panicked and used all of his willpower in an attempt to move his body, but no matter what he did, nothing changed. He couldn't even get his pinky to move.

"I can't move!" Garet called to them.

"This can't be the end! I refuse to die in a place like this!" Isaac shouted. The sparkling rain drew closer and closer, and he shut his eyes, not wanting to watch his friends transform.

"_Fear not! I will not allow this!" _sounded Flint's voice from inside of Isaac's mind. Isaac watched as Flint streamed out of his body and coalesced next to him. He could also see Forge and Gust flow out of Garet and Ivan, respectively.

"_Djinn! On my command!" _Flint commanded, gazing at Forge and Gust. They responded with a chitter and a chirp. Just before the sparkling rain hit them, Flint acted.

"_Now!" _he roared With a burst of psynergy, barriers appeared around Isaac, Garet, and Ivan, colored differently depending on the element of the Djinni controlling it.

Isaac watched in awe as the sparkling rain hit the barrier and was incinerated as the individual droplets hit it.

"My Djinni…it's saving me?" Garet said in awe, gazing at Forge with admiration. Ivan cried out in sheer relief as Gust defended him from a fate worse than death.

_"You are my owner and friend. I will not abandon you to live a life as a tree," _Flint assured Isaac, who smiled at him gratefully.

When the rain dispersed, so did the paralysis that had kept them from moving. The three rose to their feet and began thanking their Djinni profusely.

"Thank Ramses. I thought I'd never see Jenna again!" Isaac said to Flint, not even realizing his singular mention of Jenna. Garet caught it though, winking at his friend when he wasn't looking.

"Thank you Gust. You really saved me," Ivan said to his Djinni, petting the crest on its head while it chirped happily.

"Uh…I'd say thanks to a deity but Ramses is for Venus Adepts. Flint, what is the deity a Mars Adept should worship?" Garet asked cluelessly as he petted his Djinni.

"_Well, you could worship Tiamat, but she is one tough customer, so she might ask for half of your body in response for the honor of worshipping her. So thank Kirin. She is rather lenient. She might only ask you to come riding with her on her flaming wolf," _Flint answered with a glint in its eye. Garet blinked.

"Yeah. Thank Kirin I'm not going to worship Tiamat," Garet commented, causing Isaac and Ivan to chuckle.

"That was a close one though. If we hadn't had you Djinn, we would be done for," Isaac stated.

"Watch out! It's happening again!" Ivan screamed, pointing at the sky. Isaac whirled around to see the sparkling rain beginning to fall again. As soon as it reached them, Flint, Gust, and Forge again summoned the barriers of psynergy to block the deadly particles from touching them. This time, something happened after the rain dissipated. There came a voice. It didn't sound like any human voice either. It was deep and guttural, and sounding like the branches of a tree creaking and groaning while forming coherent words at the same time.

"Why? Why won't they turn into trees?" said the voice, which was laced with anger and shock.

"Who the hell was that?" Garet exclaimed, whirling around in surprise. Then a second voice joined the first, though it was much nicer sounding than the other. It was light and feminine, sounding like the rustling of leaves and the flutter of wind through tree boughs.

"Who…are they? What manner of people are these, that are immune to Tret's glamour? Even if they have come to save the people of Kolima, it will not be enough," the voice said.

"That doesn't sound good," Ivan commented. The second voice came again, much louder than before.

"They earned their fate! Kolima took their axes to me…SO I SHALL TAKE MINE TO THEM!" the voice, who was probably Tret, roared.

"Children, listen to me. We are dying. When we are gone, the trees of Kolima forest will wither and die as well," the second voice called, addressing them properly.

"What? That can't happen! Who are you anyway?" Garet replied, looking totally insane as he screamed at the sky.

"I apologize, I have forgotten that you cannot see me as I am now," the nicer sounding voice whispered. Isaac suddenly felt an intense breeze rush through the town, ruffling their hair causing them to squint.

They watched as scattered leaves lifted off the ground with the breeze and began to collect together in one place. They swirled around one another to form the vague shape of a woman. As they watched, the leaves began attaching to one another. The figure began filling out from the feet up, until a woman made entirely out of leaves stood before them. The facial features filled out next, depressions and mounds appearing in her blank face to form eyes, a nose, and a mouth.

Isaac's mouth fell open in shock. As he took in her features, his cheeks flushed a bright red as he realized that she wasn't wearing any clothing at all. That aside, Isaac had never seen anything like this before. He looked over at Garet, and resisted the urge to smack him after he saw the redhead gazing at a certain area rather intently.

"I…am Laurel, lady of the forest," the voice came again, only this time it originated from the figure in front of them. "I'd like to apologize for everything Tret is doing to everyone."

"So this Tret is the cause of the curse," Isaac mused, already trying to think of a way to fix things.

"It's no use, Laurel! Humans can never be trusted!" Tret boomed. With difficulty, Isaac tried to block out the crazed tree's voice.

"Isn't there anything we can do, Laurel?" Ivan asked of the apparition before them. The woman-like figure sighed, which the group felt as a soft breeze that swept through the village.

"I don't know, young ones. Things have changed too much and too quickly within the past month. Nothing is certain," Laurel confessed, her leafy shoulders slumping with depression. Isaac's mind was working overtime, but the only ideas he could think of were beyond ridiculous. However, there were a few things he needed to know before he could do anything.

"What is Tret like? Was he always this vengeful?" Isaac asked curiously. Laurel shook her head, the leaves that formed her hair flowing around her as she did so.

"Tret was a kind and loving forest king. Thanks to him, the village of Kolima could live in symbiosis with the trees around them. As you can see," Laurel began, but paused a moment to indicate the houses that were build into the trees around them. "the villagers live with the trees as they grow, instead of chopping down young, healthy trees in their prime."

"Tret and I understood that even with this blessing, the villagers still needed wood in order to form furniture and other necessities. Therefore, we allowed the villagers to chop down the trees that had died, so that no life was taken but all were happy," Laurel continued, her mouth curving into a smile as she remembered the times she had spent with the villagers.

"However, things changed when the good people of Bilibin sent people to Kolima, asking for a large shipment of wood. The people of Kolima went to us for help, and we obliged, showing them to an area where the trees had perished of age. That was where things went wrong," Laurel related, the smile dropping from her face, a sad look replacing it. "The villagers from Bilibin were impatient and naïve, as they chose to chop down trees at random, wreaking a path of destruction all the way to Tret and I, where they attempted to kill us too."

"That's horrible," Ivan gasped. He let his head fall into his hands, his eyes widening in disbelief at the unethical actions of Lord McCoy's men.

"Now, Tret is overcome with his anger. Not only did he curse his attackers, but he also cursed the villagers from Kolima who allowed it to happen," Laurel explained. "I don't know what you can do, but if Tret is not shown the error of his ways, then those were cursed will die with us."

"Isaac, we've got to do something!" Garet exclaimed, turning to his friend. Isaac glanced at the redhead, noting the sincere look of desperation on his face.

"All right. Laurel, where are you? I mean, your physical self," Isaac asked. Laurel's eyes widened slowly in surprise.

"You…you want to help us, even though you might not be able to do anything?" she inquired incredulously. Isaac nodded seriously, gazing into her eyes. Laurel's face lit up with joy, and she stepped closer to him.

"Once Isaac makes up his mind, no one is going to change it!" Garet roared triumphantly, striking a pose. Ivan shoved him playfully, causing the redhead to trip and fall. "Oof! Ivan, not cool!"

"Even if the villagers weren't in danger of death, I would still help you. I'm not scum enough to stand by and watch while something like you trees die, when there is still something I can do," Isaac told Laurel. She suddenly lunged forward and embraced Isaac warmly. He tensed up instantly and let out a small grunt in surprise. It wasn't every day that naked women who happened to be spirits of trees ran up and hugged him.

"You are the kindest human I've ever had the pleasure of meeting," Laurel whispered into his ear, and then planted a small, dry kiss on his cheek before her figure dissolved into leaves again.

Isaac blinked as she disappeared from in front of him, the leaves blowing away in the breeze.

"Find me…deep in the forest. Together, we will save Tret and the villagers," Laurel's voice whispered in the air.

The trio stood in silence for a few moments before they turned to one another. Garet was blushing red, while Ivan was looking around the village.

"Is…is it bad that I think a tree is attractive?" Garet asked, his tone sounding a little shy. Isaac and Ivan glanced at him in disbelief.

"No, it's totally fine. Trees can be beautiful," Ivan began, but Isaac spoke up right after him.

"No, what's bad is how you were staring at her boobs the entire time!" Isaac accused. Garet pretended to look innocent while Ivan gave him an incredulous look.

"Really, Garet?" Ivan said wryly. Garet scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Well, in my defense, it's not every day that naked tree nymphs walk up to you and ask you to save them," Garet protested, laughing nervously. "But come on, you have to admit that she had a nice…"

"You know, I can hear you…" Laurel's voice echoed through the village, with a slight hint of amusement in it. All of the color drained out of Garet's face and he fell to his knees and began to grovel.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" Garet cried up at the sky. Isaac and Ivan threw their heads back and laughed hard. When Laurel's musical laughter joined in as well, the dark mood of their previous conversation lifting.

After much merriment, in which tears flowed and balance was lost, the group was finally getting ready to set out.

"How do our supplies look, Isaac?" Ivan asked curiously. Isaac let his bag swing down to his side so that he could look inside. He rifled through it until he found his canteen and traveling rations.

"I've got at least a week's worth of food and water in here, if we rationed it," Isaac said grimly.

"Well there's a river that runs right through the forest, so I don't think we have to worry about water," Garet reminded them.

"There are plenty of fruit bearing trees within our forest, young ones," Laurel informed them, her voice reaching them from wherever she was situated. Isaac shut his bag and slung it over his back again, satisfied.

"That settles that! Let's get set up for the night!" Garet exclaimed. Isaac and Garet began to move towards a large clearing in the town, but Ivan lagged behind. "Ivan! What's taking you?

"I heard something. It was like a croak or something," Ivan replied. Isaac gave him an annoyed look.

"So, it was a frog. Big deal. Come on," Isaac snapped. Ivan shook his head.

"No, it wasn't like a frog croak. It was…" Ivan began, but then another croak sounded out from behind a large tree house that stood in front of where Ivan was looking.

"_Aha! Isaac! Did you hear that?" _Flint spoke up, awakening from his sleep. Isaac froze, turning back around to face Ivan.

"_I did hear that. Was it a Djinni_?" Isaac thought to his Djinni companion. He thought instead of spoke because he didn't want to get the others hoping to soon.

"_Yes! Not only is it a Djinni, it's a Venus Djinni, like me!" _Flint replied. Isaac grinned and began stomping over to where the croak came from.

"Ivan, you're a genius. You just found me another Djinni," the teen declared. Ivan blinked in surprise, while Garet just looked jealous.

"Aw, I want two Djinn!" Garet complained. Isaac ignored him, walking around the tree to see a fenced in area. The fence wasn't that tall, so he could easily get over it if he tried. On the other side of the fence he could see the Venus Djinni sitting there, hopping around aimlessly. It looked similar to Flint, but there were minor differences. These differences included the shape of its tail, brow, nose, and body.

"Why is it just sitting there? Can't it just hop over the fence?" Garet asked in confusion as he saw it.

"_I recognize him, that one is named Granite," _Flint commented. "_He isn't very bright."_

"Right," Isaac replied wryly as he climbed over the fence. Granite turned to face him, croaking in what sounded like surprise. When the teen went over to touch it, the Djinni burst into yellow orbs of light and painlessly entered Isaac's mind through the orifices on his face.

When Isaac settled down, he could sense the presence of two Djinn in his mind. They seemed to be interacting rather humorously.

"_Budge over, will you? I got here first, so I get this room!" _Flint complained. There was an indignant croak from Granite, followed by another retort from Flint.

"_This is MY room! See that doorway? This is MY side! That is YOUR side! My side, your side, my side, your side! GOT IT?" _Flint snapped. Isaac's face went from annoyed to dumbfounded, causing Garet to chuckled from the comical look on his face.

"My mind has rooms and doors?" Isaac asked dumbly. Garet laughed out loud, while Ivan only raised an eyebrow.

"So, now that you have two Djinn, does that mean you can summon Ramses?" Garet asked curiously after he had finished laughing at Isaac's expense. Isaac paused, remembering his previous conversation with Flint back in Goma Cave.

"Yeah, I think so. I don't think I will unless I have no other choice though. I don't want to risk losing any of my limbs," Isaac replied, wincing as he recalled the price Flint had said Ramses usually exacted.

"No kidding. Jenna needs you in one piece," Garet joked. Isaac flashed him a withering glare that caused Garet to correct his statement immediately. "Aheh…I mean WE need you in one piece. Yeah, that's what I meant."

"All joking aside, can we get started now?" Ivan asked, annoyed. Isaac spotted the annoyance of his friend and sighed, motioning for them to follow.

"Sounds good. Garet, help Ivan set up the tents while I set up the campfire," Isaac ordered, setting his bag down on the ground. Garet mumbled something about "freaking tents," but did as he was told.

The friends set up camp, preparing to sleep. Isaac was forced to take second watch this time, because Garet made sure to call last watch, and Ivan decided to steal first. Isaac groaned, since second watch was the worst in his opinion.

Resigning himself, Isaac settled down in his tent, falling asleep almost instantly.

* * *

All right, I'm done. I was considering walking to Kolima forest, but decided to just cut it off here since I'd already reached my goal of 9000 words and it just wouldn't seem right if I cut the chapter off in the middle of the forest. Therefore, I will be spending the entirety of the next chapter in Kolima forest.

So, to pre-emptively answer questions, yes I changed a few things. I made it so that Flint and the other Djinn saved the group from the falling sparkles that would turn them into trees instead of a random barrier, and then I completely changed the dialogue. It wouldn't make sense if the characters broke the fourth wall like they did in the game. "HERP WE WERE SAVED BY OUR PSYNERGY! DERP IT'S JUST LIKE OUR CRITICAL HITS!" Yeah no.

I also cut out most of Tret's dialogue because it seemed excessive to me, because he was just ranting about humans being evil. I think that after the first two lines of his dialogue, we got the point. He hates us.

Yeah, I changed a few things about the trees. I always thought that it was weird that, hey there's a sacred tree, wow it must be really cool! And then I get there and see a tree with a face carved into it. PFFT! That's nothing! Any old artisan could carve a face in a tree and then have a ventriloquist make it talk to get these guys! So I fleshed it out and explained that Tret and Laurel are the personified souls of the trees themselves. They are sort of like Tree Nymphs, only Tret is male. Basically, they have humanoid forms.

Anyhow, time to move on to the shout-outs. I've only got one this time around, sadly.

**kinglumption: **this guy is ridiculous. He literally posted a review within an hour after I posted the chapter. How awesome is that? Hang on, let me put your pedestal on a pedestal, and then put you on it. As to address your points, it is difficult to have the party stumble across every Djinni in the world randomly. In Bilibin, I was considering including a scene where Garet would be screwing around on the wall and that's how he'd find the cave, but that seemed too ridiculous. Then in this chapter, I thought it was really stupid how Isaac couldn't just hop the fence in the game rather than go through a monster-infested cave, so I changed that in the story. Next, I didn't give Ivan the Magic Wand or whatever because I didn't want to explain magic weapons and their attacks until later. That and it's a rather lame weapon. Nothing like the Sol Blade. That will be fun. MEGIDDO MUTHAF***ERS! Lastly, I'm totally taking your suggestion concerning Garet's enlightened. That will be hilarious as hell.

He's my only reviewer this time around, which doesn't bother me. At least I had one. I'd like more, but I won't complain. One is enough to keep me going.

Later,

Terran34


	11. Kolima Forest

Here's my next chapter. The only reason I can keep cranking em out like this is because it has become part of my routine. So chapters reliably get done. Though on weekends I don't do a damn thing. Except for Mass Effect 3. Which I'm not going to get into because I can rant about Quarians for hours. They are just too awesome. And…and…yeah let's not do that.

So, is anyone else getting sick of me typing the word tree? I know I am! I just want this whole Tret arc to be over with. It never was one of my favorite parts of the game. However, it is a little more interesting now that I added the whole tree nymph thing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun! If I did, then Mia would be paired with me I mean what?

* * *

"Wake up, Isaac. It's your turn to stand watch," Ivan whispered. Isaac stirred, mumbling something incoherent. Ivan sighed and shook his friend lightly. Isaac's eyes finally flickered open. He moaned in annoyance as the world slowly came into focus.

"All right, I'm up," Isaac muttered, hoisting himself up. He nodded at Ivan and followed him out of his tent into the darkness.

"Night Isaac. I'm heading to sleep," Ivan murmured, walking back to his tent. Isaac watched him go for a moment before he sighed and began looking for a place to sit.

He settled with a nearby log next to the campfire, where he could see the entrance to the town rather clearly. He didn't expect anything to attack them in the middle of the village, but it didn't hurt to be cautious.

As he tended to do while watching, he let his mind wander. He wouldn't let himself think about Jenna too much, because he would get depressed and angry very fast, and then he wouldn't be able to concentrate. Therefore, he began thinking about positive things. What would the lighthouses look like? He knew that he had to stop them from being lit, but if they were anything like Sol Sanctum, then he was sure that they would be magnificent.

Isaac sighed and stretched himself out on the log, allowing himself to look up at the starry sky. He cast his gaze around until he spotted Venus, the planet whose very being was comprised of the essence of earth.

"I wonder if someday I'll be able to visit Venus," Isaac whispered to the sky. He immediately felt foolish for saying it out loud, and went quiet. Growing bored of staring at the planet, Isaac used his psynergy to rip a small chunk of earth from the ground. He let it float in mid-air above him. As he looked at it, Isaac allowed the dirt covering to gently fall off and land on the ground next to him until he saw the rock underneath. Smiling slightly, Isaac cracked the rock in two with his mind to reveal the quartz that had been kept inside.

That reminded him. Isaac let the rock fall to the ground, and then he stood up and walked over to his bag. He opened it and rifled through it until he found what he was looking for: three beads tied together with a string. He had been neglecting his training recently, so now would be a good time to fix that.

Isaac sat back on the log, his legs crossed. He held the Catch Beads in his hands and closed his eyes. He exhaled slowly, allowing his mind to become blissfully blank. Only when he was thinking of nothing else but the silence could he feel the power of the Catch Beads in his hands.

Isaac reached out his mind, focusing solely on the power he felt in his hands. He tried to familiarize himself with the feel of the power held within the beads, so that he could call it up later without needing to meditate like this. Deciding to try it once, Isaac thrust out his hand.

"Catch," Isaac whispered, drawing upon his stores of psynergy. He opened his eyes to see a ghostly hand appear in front of him. With a grin on his face, Isaac directed the hand over to his bag. He watched in triumph as the hand brought the bag back over to him. When the hand disappeared, Isaac grabbed the bag before it could hit the ground.

"That is quite a gift, young one," said a female voice from beside him. Isaac was so startled that he fell off the log with a yelp. He looked up to see the nude form of Laurel sitting on the log next to where he used to be. Her musical laugh filled Isaac's ears as he tried to stand. His cheeks were quickly turning a bright red, both from the embarrassment of being startled like that as well as the fact that she was wearing nothing whatsoever. Of course, her skin was made of leaves, but the features were accurate enough.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Laurel said apologetically, though a smile was pasted across her beautiful face. Isaac chuckled nervously, running a hand through his hair.

"That's all right. I should have been more alert," Isaac replied, sitting on the log next to her. It took a lot of effort to keep his gaze on her eyes, but he did it. He wasn't Garet, after all. She smiled warmly at him in response.

"What is it called?" Laurel asked suddenly, changing the subject. Isaac blinked, taken by surprise.

"Wha?" Isaac said, confused.

"That power. What is it called?" she asked, shifting her body so that she could support her upper body with her arm. Isaac then understood what she meant.

"Oh, you mean this?" Isaac asked, lifting the lump of quartz that he had uncovered to show his manipulation of earth. Laurel nodded, gazing curiously at the floating crystal. "It's called psynergy. Our powers stem from the elements earth, wind, fire, and water."

"Psynergy…what an interesting name. I find it curious that people as young as yourself possess power this strong," Laurel mused. Isaac shrugged nonchalantly. He had never known a life without psynergy, as nearly everyone in his village knew how to use it.

"Everyone where I'm from can use this. Ours is just strong because we…have a goal," Isaac replied. Laurel cocked her head, her leafy hair rustling with the movement.

"A goal?" she pressed, her eyes gazing into his curiously. Isaac knew that she was probably older than his entire family combined, but the way she looked at him made her seem so young and so innocent. He forced himself to think of other things, since if he continued along that line of thought, then he was sure that Laurel would notice his body reacting.

"Yeah. Saturos and Menardi. The worst people ever to come to our home village," Isaac growled. He was caught off guard as Laurel draped her arms around his shoulders. He couldn't help but notice her breasts pressing against his chest, and he began blushing furiously.

"I can sense turmoil within you, young one. Relax in my embrace, and sleep," Laurel whispered to him. A sweet odor entered Isaac's nostrils. It was near impossible to describe, as he had smelled nothing like it before. It was like he was smelling the damp odor of a rainstorm mixed with the sweet smell of flowers, though what type of flower Isaac couldn't tell. His eyelids began to droop, sleep threatening to claim him. He forced his eyes open, suddenly becoming alert.

"Can't…need to…keep…watch…" Isaac forced out, his voice sounding tired. He wasn't able to resist the sleepiness that threatened to overcome him, and he went limp in Laurel's arms. Isaac felt her kiss his forehead as she lowered him onto her lap, which was made of leaves so soft that Isaac could swear that he was lying on a pillow.

"There is no need. I will keep you safe, young one," Laurel whispered to Isaac, who could barely hear her as his eyes closed and his thoughts began to fade. He felt her stroking his head lovingly just before he lost all awareness of the world around him.

* * *

Isaac regained consciousness some time later, when the light of dawn began trickling over the horizon. He heard footsteps approach him from behind, followed by an indignant cry.

"Isaac! Why were you sleeping on watch!" Garet accused loudly. It was only then that Isaac realized that he was still lying on a pillow made of leaves. However, it wasn't a pillow. He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was a leafy midriff. His eyes went wide and his face went red instantly, and he jerked up off of Laurel's lap and began acting like nothing had happened.

"Don't worry," Laurel said to Garet, who just noticed her presence…and went back to staring at something he really shouldn't be. "I stood watch for you tonight."

"You…you can do that?" Garet asked stupidly, his mind not really focused on the conversation.

"Of course. I wished to relieve your friend of his tensions, and this seemed the best way to do so," Laurel explained. Garet turned a light shade of red, and he turned to his friend.

"She relieved your stress, and you were facing her p… I see what you did there," Garet joked. Isaac blinked, confused for a moment before his friend's meaning dawned on him. Isaac turned a deeper shade of red and glared at his friend.

"What? No! Why would you even…no!" Isaac yelled frantically at Garet, who was laughing as hard as he could. Laurel watched the spectacle and laughed herself, though Isaac wasn't sure if she understood what Garet was insinuating or not.

"So loud…can't I wake up normally for once?" Ivan grumbled as he exited his tent. He saw the scene before him and wondered what was going on. "Uh…guys? What are you doing?"

"Garet is being perverted!" Isaac yelled, pointing at the redhead.

"Isaac got unbelievably lucky!" Garet joked, pointing back. Isaac gave him such a withering look that Garet winced.

"No I didn't! And you do know she's right there, right?" the teen shot back. Laurel held her hand to her mouth as she laughed, appearing every bit as dainty as the typical maiden.

"Laurel? Care to explain?" Ivan asked, ignoring the squabbling friends, who fell over dramatically at being ignored. Laurel finished laughing and smiled at Ivan.

"Your friends are making rather crude jokes concerning me. I find it rather amusing," she answered. Ivan's mouth dropped open. Garet and Isaac stood up straight and stared at her with jaws open and eyes wide.

"WAIT YOU UNDERSTAND THEM?" Garet and Isaac demanded in shock. Ivan sighed and turned around, holding his palm out to his friends to show that he was shunning them.

"Nothing to do here," Ivan remarked, returning to the campfire so he could start getting ready to leave.

Laurel was laughing again as she watched Isaac and Garet apologizing profusely for their inconsideration, though Isaac was apologizing on Garet's behalf.

"You don't need to apologize. I have lived long enough to understand human urges," Laurel informed them, which only caused the two to blush further.

"Oi! Come over here and help me pack! We've got a forest to save, just in case you forgot!" Ivan called from the center of camp.

"Go help your friend. It is time for me to return to Tret as it is," Laurel told the two teens, who nodded furiously and scrambled over each other in an attempt to get away from that entire situation. Laurel gazed after them for a minute, and then she dissolved into the wind.

Isaac began packing up his tent, pointedly ignoring Garet, who was doing the same over at his tent. Ivan looked back at them, and shook his head in exasperation.

"You two are hopeless. Hitting on a tree of all things," Ivan commented, a wry smile on his face. Isaac immediately turned to face the teen, an indignant look present on his face.

"That was Garet! He just dragged me into it!" Isaac protested. Garet scoffed and started to retort, but Ivan cut across the both of them.

"PACK!" he shouted, causing Isaac and Garet to return to their tasks, muttering under their breath.

* * *

All joking aside, the group finally managed to return their traveling mindset. Isaac slipped on his bag and began walking towards the village exit. Garet and Ivan weren't far behind.

"It shouldn't be more than an hour's walk to the forest entrance," Isaac informed the others.

"Forests have entrances? Can't you just slip in wherever you are?" Garet asked, a look of genuine confusion on his face. Isaac sighed.

"What I mean is where the forest is thinnest…" Isaac reiterated, an impatient edge in his voice. Garet, now satisfied and chastised at the same time, went silent and kept walking.

Isaac lifted his canteen and took a quick swig from it before returning it to his side. The feeling of the cool liquid massaging his dry throat felt wonderful, and it took every bit of his willpower not to drain the rest of his canteen. Then again, he remembered that there was a river in the forest, so he didn't really need to ration his water. Shrugging, Isaac grabbed the canteen again and drained the entire thing, closing his eyes in satisfaction as he did so.

"Oh yeah, there's a river in the forest," Ivan commented after he saw Isaac drinking his entire supply of water. With that, the teen took his own canteen and drained it dry. Garet soon followed suit.

Feeling better, the three left the village and continued on their way.

* * *

The group, after turning to the north at the intersection from before, found themselves at the entrance to Kolima Forest. Isaac could hear the trickling of the river that flowed out of the forest, which reminded him of how thirsty he was. Even though he had drained his canteen fully, it didn't seem to help much, which confused him.

"It looks awfully dark in there," Garet commented, peering into the forest. Isaac gave him a disbelieving look.

"Really? Are you seriously complaining about darkness? You've been our personal torch for how long now?" Isaac remarked. Garet snorted in response, though he did light his hand on fire so he could peer inside the forest.

"We might not need your light in a few hours. It is still dark after all," Ivan reminded them. Isaac sighed and drew his axe from his belt, since he was sure that there would be monsters inside. Monsters thrived in dark places like forests, caves, and mountains, so it couldn't hurt to be prepared.

There was the sound of a blade being unsheathed, so Isaac looked to his right to see Ivan drawing his light blade. He was looking at it with an odd expression, which caused Isaac to raise an eyebrow.

"You look like you're scared of it," Isaac quipped. Ivan nervously chuckled as he tested the weight of the blade in his hand.

"It's just not something I'm used to using is all," he explained. Isaac nodded, understanding that it can be dangerous to handle a blade without any training.

"Feel free to use your psynergy, but I think you'll need to use your blade for Djinni attacks and for close ranged combat," Isaac advised the teen. Ivan listened intently, sheathing his sword again.

"That reminds me. I really want to find out what Forge can do!" Garet exclaimed as he drew his own axe. Isaac was also a bit curious, but he wasn't about to admit that to Garet.

"Let's just get moving. Kolima isn't going to save itself," Isaac interrupted. The group moved into the dark forest, the sounds of their conversation replaced by the ambient noise of nature: crickets chirping, unknown creatures shuffling about in the undergrowth, and the early birds cooing softly.

The group soon found out that the shape of the forest was guiding their movements. To elaborate, the group would try to move forward, only to find that that the trees and plants became too thick to continue, so they would have to change direction and follow the path containing the thinnest growth.

Garet again used his fire abilities to light their way, though he was careful not to let his flame come into contact with any of the plants. He was sure that Tret and Laurel wouldn't be too happy if their forest went up in flames.

The firelight revealed several unsettling things. There were large tree stumps scattered everywhere through the forest, which served as evidence to the misdeeds of the Bilibin lumberjacks. Isaac found himself identifying with Tret a little. He couldn't blame the tree for being angry at the wanton destruction of his brethren.

Their path swerved to the east, as there was a very thick patch of trees and thorns blocking their path to the north. They found themselves in small clearing. However, the light of Garet's fire revealed that it hadn't always been a clearing.

"Look at all these stumps. I understand the need for wood, but I think Bilibin took it too far," Ivan said, his tone a mixture between awe and disgust. Isaac grunted in agreement, picking his way through the maze of tree stumps.

The only way through was back to the north, which soon brought them to a huge clearing. Now, evidence of a human presence began to manifest itself. There were remnants of campfires scattered throughout the massive clearing, surrounded by long abandoned tents and scaffolding. Piles of lumber lines the edges of the clearing, some of which were sawed and chopped, and others that still needed to be debarked.

The river that they had been hearing cut through the dead center of the huge clearing, which made Isaac all too aware of the dryness in his throat. It wouldn't be too hard to cross the river when needed, as there were carved wooden slats that served as bridges at certain key points in the river.

"It looks like the people from Bilibin were working here," Isaac observed, walking over to a tent and peering inside. Inside was a neglected bedroll as well as a scattered possessions that had presumably been precious to the tent's owner.

"Where are they…oh," Garet started, but cut himself off when he came face to face with another man-shaped tree. The redhead turned all around to see more transformed people dotting the entire clearing. There were also some trees growing in bizarre places, such as the top of a scaffolding. In one case, there was a tent on top of a tree, which seemed to imply that the man had tried to hide in his tent, but had already been in the process of transforming.

"Look at this, Isaac!" Ivan called from over near another tent. Isaac and Garet walked over to him to see what he had found. The teen held up a small, purple gemstone with a confused look on his face. Isaac could sense the power emanating from it before he even saw it.

"Isaac, is that what I think it is?" Garet asked incredulously, taking the gem from Ivan. Isaac nodded.

"It seems to be a miniature psynergy stone. What's it doing all the way over here in Kolima? I didn't think the eruption had gotten any farther than the Goma Range," Isaac mused, gazing at the mysterious gem.

"Alchemy is supposed to be super strong, right? Perhaps the eruption carried gems all over Weyard?" Garet suggested. Isaac remembered the massive cloud of ash and dust that had arisen from Mt. Aleph that day, and realized that Garet just might be right.

"Oh, I remember. This came from the eruption? I don't remember it being that big in your minds, though," Ivan said.

"That's because none of us comprehended just how big of a catastrophe removing the Elemental Stars had caused," Isaac explained to the confused teen. Ivan nodded, understanding.

"You have one of the Elemental Stars with you, don't you?" Ivan asked. Isaac started. He had almost completely forgotten the presence of the Mars Star in his bag. He was about to pull it out when he heard a low growl.

"Did you hear that?" Isaac hissed at them, instantly going into a defensive stance. He slipped his arm into his bronze shield after he took it from his back. Garet nodded grimly, shield and axe at the ready. Ivan took his staff in his left hand and wielded his light blade in his right.

There was a rustling in the plants to Isaac's left. He had only just started to turn when something erupted from the foliage and lunged at him. Isaac instinctively slid his right foot back, pivoting so that his shield faced his attacker.

There was a sound of metal clashing on metal, and Isaac winced as his shield vibrated from the impact. Isaac's eyes widened as he saw his attacker's features. It was a rat creature, one like the ones he had faced for a while, only it was a bit different. For one, it was not using its claws. That was clearly metal that had clashed with his shield. Secondly, as it snarled at him and gazed into its eyes, Isaac could see red pupils and slick black fur.

"Ah, there's one over here too!" Garet yelled, engaging his own rat monster. Ivan was having his own troubles as well. Isaac shoved forward, placing his weight on his right foot. The rat howled in frustration as it was thrust back. Glancing over his shoulder, Isaac made sure nothing was behind him before stepping back and giving him some room to maneuver. As the rat approached for a second attack, Isaac noticed that it was wielding a sword and shield, which was very odd considering that animals shouldn't know how to use human weapons.

It snarled at him, wrinkling its nose as it took in his scent. Isaac responded with a yell of his own, and he rushed forward with his axe held above his head. When he reached the rat, Isaac brought his axe down forcefully, intending to hit the rat on the head to end the fight. The rat saw this coming, however, and blocked the blow with its shield, which seemed to be made out of a mixture of wood and metal. Isaac immediately knew what the rat was going to do.

The rat knocked Isaac's axe away and lunged forward with its sword. Isaac managed to collect himself in time to leap backwards, away from the lethal, barbed edge.

"Be careful! These rats seem to be trained!" Isaac called back to the others, though he didn't know how they were doing.

"Trained rats…the very idea is ridiculous!" Garet answered, relieving Isaac's worries.

"Ivan, you all right back there?" Isaac yelled as he exchanged blows with the rat. There was an answering grunt, followed by the crackling sound of lightning.

Satisfied knowing that his friends were all right, Isaac increased the intensity of his attacks. He bashed the rat backwards with his shield to give himself some breathing room, and then he reached into his stores of psynergy. He leapt forward and slammed his axe into the ground, creating a shockwave that traversed the distance between them in an instant. The rat screeched in pain as the shockwave hit it head on, sending it flying backwards into a tree.

Isaac grinned and was about to finish the rat off when he caught sight of his axe. The blades were burning bright with flickering flames, shining light on the clearing around them.

"What the hell? Garet, did you do something?" Isaac shouted back at his friend, not wanting to attack until he knew that this wasn't a trap.

"Yeah! Apparently My Djinni, Forge, increases the damage output of my allies and I with flame!" Garet called back. Isaac, reassured, went to continue his attack, but noticed that the rat was already up and charging back at him. Isaac twirled his axe confidently and sidestepped the rat, which didn't halt its attack and therefore ended up with its sword stuck in the ground.

Isaac seized this opportunity to attack, swinging his axe wildly at the rat. However, it expected this and let go of its sword, bringing its shield to bear. Isaac didn't stop his attack, but the shield didn't do much except slow him down. The flames on his axe seared right through the wooden shield and left a deep gash on the rat, causing it to squeal rather loudly. The halves of the now useless shield fell to the ground on either side of the injured rat, unable to defend it from Isaac's next attack. Isaac let out a battle cry as his axe cut into the rat's skull, killing it instantly.

He didn't rest there. Isaac turned to see his friends fighting as hard as he had. Garet seemed to be doing fine, but there were three rats ganging up on Ivan. The teen was managing to hold them off with bolts of lighting, but the rats kept blocking the bolts with their shields and moving forward, which in turn caused Ivan to move back. Pretty soon the teen would be against the thick trees on the other side of the clearing, which would sound the death knell for him. Isaac rushed towards him, intending to offer aid.

"Gust! Come to my aid!" Ivan shouted, clenching his blade fiercely. Upon calling out the name of the Djinni, his blade began glowing with a bright purple light in addition to the flames of Forge that were already on it. As the three rats closed in on him, Ivan yelled and swung his light blade in a wide arc to the left. Isaac blinked as his friend's blade not only left a purple trail in the air as he swung, but the air seemed to dilate around the tip of the blade, as if wind faster than any ever recorded was emanating from it. The blade nicked each of the three rats…and they were promptly sliced in half and sent flying backwards in a bloody mess of limbs. Isaac walked up to Ivan, his eyes wide in awe.

"Huh. Guess you don't need my help after all," he commented, and then turned his gaze to Garet, who was just finishing up with his opponent.

"Die already! Finally! Stupid rat with your stupid shields and your stupid swords and…and GAH WOULD YOU STAY DEAD!" Garet ranted at the rat he was trying to kill. He had finally managed to wound it once, but it had just gotten back up again, which was the reason for his rant. To finish it, he had finally decided to burn it to a crisp with his psynergy.

"You okay over there, Garet?" Isaac joked, walking over to his friend. Garet nodded, though he was muttering something indistinct under his breath.

"I wonder if he thinks the rats are stupid?" Ivan mused jokingly. Garet wiped his axe off on the ground before sheathing it again.

"Yeah, I'm all right. I just think the idea that rats can use human weapons and fight like human soldiers ridiculous," Garet replied. Isaac sighed, sheathing his axe as well.

"No kidding. I've never seen or heard about anything like this. It's the same with the zombies," Isaac continued, motioning for the group to follow him. He lead them through the Bilibin camp and headed for the northernmost bridge to the other side of the river.

"That's because nothing like this has existed before," Ivan explained. "These monsters have only been around since the eruption."

"So the fragments of psynergy stones have been mutating animals and dead bodies, huh?" Garet deduced. The group lapsed into silence after that. If the psynergy stones have the ability to turn innocent animals into monsters, then who knows what other monstrosities are out there, waiting for them?

When Isaac reached the river, he immediately got down on his knees and grabbed his canteen. He reached down and scooped up some of the crystal clear water. He tasted it eagerly, finding it cool and sweet.

"Good idea, Isaac. Come on, Ivan, let's get some water," Garet commented, walking up to the water's edge as well.

The group spent a few minutes drinking their fill of the river water, and then refilling their canteens. Isaac, his thirst finally quenched, let out a long content sigh and stood up.

"Let's get going. We still need to find Tret and Laurel," he told Garet and Ivan. He led the two forward, only to immediately run into an obstacle. The lumberjacks had obviously chopped down a tree, but had been transformed before they could move it to the lumber pile. Therefore, there was a large tree trunk barring their path to the northernmost bridge.

"This could be a problem," Garet observed, stating the obvious. Isaac looked around, noticing that the tree trunk was parallel to the river, which was currently traveling northward for a bit before curving sharply to the east. Its turn to the east was why the lumberjacks had placed a bridge there: so they could return to the northern edge of the river.

"Come help me push this, you two. We can roll it into the river if we work together," Isaac ordered. Ivan and Garet responded to his order by walking up beside him next to the fallen tree.

The three lined up and placed their hands on the tree, which as it had yet to be debarked, felt slightly damp and left residue on their fingers. Isaac grimaced, not liking getting his hands dirty, but didn't say anything.

"On three, everyone. Ready? One…" Isaac started, but Garet cut across him with a grin on his face.

"Wait, on three? Or three and _then _go?" he asked. Isaac gave him an exasperated look.

"I said on three, didn't I? Try freaking listening next time," he returned, shoving his friend lightly. "One…two…three!

The three began pushing as hard as they could on the tree trunk when Isaac gave the command. It was a fairly large tree, so it would have been impossible for just one person to have moved it. Three was a stretch, but since Garet wasn't exactly of an average build, it made the task much easier. Isaac grunted in exertion as the tree began to roll ever so slightly. It soon sped up, and it wasn't long before they pushed it off of the riverbank and into the water.

"Oh yeah! No tree gonna stand in MY way!" Garet cried triumphantly as he watched the tree slowly float downstream. Isaac grinned at this and moved through the now unblocked passage to the bridge.

The bridge was thankfully sturdy, and it was an easy matter to get to the other side. However, they soon met another thick patch of trees that blocked their passage north, so Isaac began looking for another way through. Garet didn't need to light this way anymore, since the light of the sun was now filtering in through the canopy above them, coloring their surroundings a light shade of green.

"Isaac, over there! To the west," Ivan spoke up. Isaac followed his pointing finger to see a passage on the northwestern corner of the clearing.

"This forest is a pain in the ass," Garet complained as they began walking in that direction, threading through the mess of tree stumps littered everywhere.

"Actually, it could be much worse," Isaac corrected him. The redhead glanced over his way, unbelieving.

"Yeah? How do you figure?" Garet shot back. Isaac waved his hand, indicating the entire clearing.

"For one, we aren't picking our way through a massive forest that is thick like the borders of this clearing all the time. At least we have areas like this where the forest isn't so thick," Isaac explained. Garet opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it when he actually saw the sense in that.

When they passed through the northwestern path, they found themselves in another lumber camp like the one in the previous area. However, this one was a complete mess.

"Get down!" Isaac hissed in a loud whisper. The group instantly fell to the ground and concealed themselves in the grass.

The camp was in the process of being ransacked by a large amount of the rat soldiers that they fought earlier. However, Isaac could see a group of zombies wandering aimlessly around the camp as well. They were hopelessly outnumbered.

The lumber pile was a mess, and uncut logs were everywhere, obstructing passage to the northernmost section of the camp.

"Ivan, how's your psynergy?" Isaac whispered to his friend, who was looking slightly worried. Ivan shifted and edged closer to Isaac.

"I'm still over halfway full. Do you have a plan?" Ivan replied, making sure to keep his voice low. Isaac nodded in confirmation.

"_Flint, if Ivan were to summon the weakest deity that he could, how bad would the favor be?"_ Isaac thought to his Djinni companion. Flint stirred in his mind, making what sounded like a yawn.

"_Aw, I was dreaming about Mist, did you really have to wake me up?" _he complained.

"_Not sure I wanted to know that. Anyway, answer the question," _Isaac demanded. Flint went quiet for a moment as he thought.

"_Hm, when I summoned Venus earlier, the only thing he asked me for afterwards was a large amount of my psynergy power later. So if you feel like you can risk Ivan losing his psynergy completely, then go ahead and summon Jupiter." _Flint replied. Isaac thought about this for a moment. Could he risk that?

"Ivan, do you still have that psynergy stone you picked up?" Isaac whispered. Ivan nodded, holding the gem up. "Good. Then I want you to use your Djinni on the nearest monster, and then summon Jupiter."

"What? You mean like one of those demi-gods that Flint summoned in Goma Cave?" Ivan hissed back, looking surprised. Isaac nodded, which made Ivan blanch. "I don't know how to do that! Besides, what about the favors they ask for?"

"Trust me, I talked it over with Flint first. You have to use your Djinni in order to get its attention…" Isaac began.

"_Her. Jupiter is a her," _Flint interrupted. Isaac sighed in annoyance, and then continued.

"…to get _her _attention, and then call out her name with the intent of summoning her." Isaac finished. Ivan nodded, a drop of sweat appearing on his forehead. "On my signal then."

Now that a plan had been formulated, the group waited in silence for the opportune moment to strike. Several minutes passed, and Isaac began to grow impatient as the monsters didn't grow close to their hiding spot. However, after another few minutes, a zombie finally drew close to Ivan.

"Now!" Isaac hissed. Ivan drew his light blade and leapt to his feet, already calling upon the power of his Djinni. The horde of monsters instantly noticed him and charged to attack.

Ivan slashed his Djinni empowered blade through the zombie, the air dilating around his blade as he did so. The zombie growled once and then exploded into bloody bits.

"Uh…Jupiter! Help me!" Ivan yelled to the sky rather cluelessly. His expression changed to one of fear as nothing immediately happened and the monsters approached him. Isaac cursed and motioned to Garet, indicated that the plan must have failed. The two of them jumped up, weapons drawn. That's when they felt it.

They felt a presence in the area, similar to the one they had felt in Goma Cave. The horde of monsters seemed to have noticed it too, as they stopped and began looking for the newcomer.

A giant lightning bolt struck the ground in between Ivan and the monsters, momentarily blinding everyone in the clearing. Isaac cried and covered his eyes from the light, but it was gone as soon as it had arrived.

There was a graceful female figure outlined in purple light standing before Ivan. No features other than the body could be seen, so no one could see its facial expression.

The monsters soon got over their surprise and charged at the figure. Jupiter held out her hands, and weapons formed from the purified essence of wind and lightning appeared: a katana in her right hand and a lethal whip in her left.

The three friends watched in awe as Jupiter charged into the monsters, slicing and cutting everything before her. She would flick her whip at the farthest monster from her, which would cut its body into pieces merely on contact, as if it had been struck with a potent lightning bolt. The monsters closer to her were the unluckiest, as Jupiter would massacre three or four monsters with one graceful slice of her katana.

"She's slicing everything up! I like her," Garet commented, watching in awe as the monsters gave way before her might.

"I…summoned that?" Ivan whispered to himself, half in pride and half in fear. Isaac patted his friend on the shoulder.

"I knew you could do it," he assured the teen, who smiled shyly.

The last remaining rat soldier threw itself at Jupiter, its weapon raised high. The demi-god responded by taking her whip and spinning it outwards at the rat, so that the whip formed a cone-like shape. The whip spun so fast that it eventually formed a whirlwind in midair, which sucked the rat into it, where it was finally eviscerated in the might winds.

As soon as it verified the lack of enemies in the clearing, Jupiter vanished. Almost instantly after she disappeared, Ivan gasped and fell to the ground, panting.

"My…my psynergy! It's all gone!" he cried out, unable to move. Psynergy was akin to stamina in an Adept, so when one ran out of psynergy, it was hard to perform any action requiring stamina, and vice versa.

"The catch! Isaac, why would you force him to summon something that would take all of his psynergy away? What if we need him for something up ahead?" Garet asked furiously, storming over to his friend. Isaac sighed and ignored him, kneeling down by Ivan. He grabbed the psynergy stone from Ivan's pocket and pushed it into Ivan's hands.

"Concentrate on this, Ivan. Think of it like a fountain of psynergy – one you can drink from," Isaac told the fatigued blonde. Understanding dawned on Garet's face as Ivan tried to do as he was told. After a few moments, Ivan gasped when the psynergy stone crumbled to dust in his hands.

"All right! I'm all charged up!" Ivan exclaimed, leaping to his feet, revitalized. Garet began looking around for another stone.

"I need one of those. Good thinking, Isaac," Garet complimented him. Isaac grinned wryly and slapped the redhead on the back.

"Maybe you should trust me from now on," the teen jokingly advised his friend.

Now that the monsters were out of the way, it was only a matter of time until they reached the northern exit to the lumber camp. There were a few fallen tree trunks that hadn't been moved out of the way, but that was quickly rectified by the combined efforts of the three adventurers.

Upon reaching the northern part of the lumber camp, they realized that the passage to the next area was created artificially.

"I was wondering why we kept walking through clearings instead of an actual forest! This explains it," Garet said, walking up to the passage and noting the recently cut trees.

"This entire lumber camp has been cut out of the forest by the Bilibin lumberjacks," Ivan added.

"I guess this explained why Tret was so angry. They chopped down hundreds of trees. It's horrible," Isaac continued. Garet walked through the passage to find himself in another section of the lumber camp. However, like the previous one, it had already been torn apart by the forest residents. Thankfully there were no monsters in sight.

"In Vale, we lived in harmony with nature. We build our houses on cliff tops and carved stairs into rock faces, but we only chopped down what trees we needed. We never killed this many just to make one person happy," Garet revealed, turning to face Ivan and Isaac as they followed him through the passage. Garet then ignited his fists, letting them burn as he seethed. "I'm going to freaking MURDER that Lady McCoy bastard!"

Isaac took a moment to take in the features of this clearing. They seemed to be getting somewhere, as there was a cliff rising above the mostly level forest floor, with stairs built into it on the other side of the river that ran through the area. He also noticed that the river flowed into a hole that led underneath the cliff and presumably into groundwater channels.

"I assume that we need to climb the stairs to the cliff. That means we need to cross the river. Anyone see a bridge?" Isaac mused, looking around. Ivan and Garet split up and begin looking around the clearing.

"I found a bridge…only it's busted," Ivan spoke up regretfully from his position by river. Isaac ran over to the side of the river to take a look. What he saw only confirmed Ivan's appraisal. There was evidence that a bridge had once been there, but the only thing left of it was a broken shard of wood on the other side.

"That doesn't help. Garet, do you see anything?" Isaac commented, walking over to the redhead.

"Yeah, I see something, but it's a bit puzzling," Garet answered. Isaac watched as the redhead pointed out three different tree trunks that had been chopped down but not removed from their position. Ivan walked up behind them and looked around as well.

"We could try rolling a tree into the river and cross using that, but the other trunks just get in the way," Ivan suggested. Isaac looked at the three trunks that blocked one another. One of the trunks was lying perpendicular to the river, but their path to it was blocked by another trunk, which lay right in front of them, parallel to the river. The last trunk seemed unimportant, tucked in between several tall tree stumps.

"If that plan were to work, the trunk closest to the river would need to be out of the way, and then we could roll this one in front of us right into the water. However, we can't get to that one, thanks to this one in front of it," Isaac thought aloud.

"Nothing for it. We have to move this one to get to that one, so we might as well," Ivan spoke up. Isaac recognized the reasoning behind that statement, so the three labored together and pushed the tree trunk in front of them until it hit the trunk closest to the river. After that worked, the three looked at their handiwork.

"Now what?" Garet asked cluelessly, looking around. Isaac spotted a gap in the trees to the north, so on a whim he decided to take a look. "Hey, do you see something, Isaac?"

"Maybe. Shut up for a moment," Isaac told him. Garet sputtered indignantly as Isaac disappeared into the small gap.

Isaac found himself looping back around through a tiny passage and found himself on the other side of the tree trunk that they had just pushed. Now, the river was on his right, the trunk they were trying to remove was in front of him, and the trunk they just moved was on his left. He took in everything around him, trying to find a way to get rid of that tree trunk.

If he were to get Garet and Ivan's help, they could move the trunk forwards, but then it would get stuck on a stump on the other side, and would still be in the way of the trunk they intended to use as a bridge. With that in mind, Isaac turned around and saw that if they pushed the trunk towards the north instead, then it would get out of the way of the makeshift bridge, but there was no way to push it from below without...

"Garet, Ivan, come here for a moment," Isaac called. He was rewarded by the sounds of footsteps, and soon his friends were behind him. "Help me push this trunk a few inches backwards."

"What? Why? Didn't we just move that one?" Garet protested. Isaac didn't feel like explaining, so he just glared.

"Trust me Garet. I know what I'm doing," he snapped. Garet looked at Ivan for support, but the blonde just shrugged.

With everyone's help, Isaac managed to push the trunk backwards a few inches, which was all he needed to slip through the gap between the two trunks.

"Come on, squeeze through here," Isaac ordered. Ivan and Garet, bemused, followed their friend through the gap. Garet had some trouble slipping through, but he managed to after some help from Ivan. "Now help me push this trunk."

The three then worked together to push the trunk that was in the way of their bridge northwards, effectively blocking the gap that they had passed through to get to this point.

"Good idea, Isaac. Though our bridge has a clear path to the river now, how do we get back to the other side?" Ivan asked curiously. Surprisingly, it was Garet who answered.

"Look down there. There's one last trunk between the stumps. If we push that down, we can circle back around to the entrance of the lumber camp," he pointed out. Isaac smiled, though he was surprised that Garet had actually done something useful for once.

After the trunk was out of the way, the three friends circled around the lumber camp until they were finally back at the tree they intended to use as their bridge.

"Let's do this! One last push!" Garet announced, a wide grin streaking across his face. He cracked his knuckles loudly, and then put his hands on the trunk. Isaac and Ivan leaned over beside him and combined their strength until the trunk began to roll.

"All right!" Ivan exclaimed happily as the trunk landed into the river and sank to the bottom. The river was deep, but thanks to the trunk, they were now able to cross.

"That took way too much time. Let's keep moving," Isaac complained, starting up the stairs to the top of the cliff.

There were trees clustering their path north, so the group was forced to walk along the cliff edge to the east.

The next area of the lumber camp was situated along the edge of a sizeable lake. The lake was artificial, since Isaac could see a set of stone floodgates blocking the water from following the dry riverbed that proceeded south into the forest. He couldn't see where the river flowed into the lake, so he assumed that the river had originally come from underground, so the source couldn't be seen.

"Whoa, nifty! What's it used for?" Garet asked, peering down at the man-made lake. Isaac honestly couldn't answer that question, so he shrugged. Ivan was busy looking through the tents for anything useful.

"It looks like the way forward has been blocked by that tree trunk," Isaac observed. "Unlike the others, there's no way to roll it from this side, and it's much too heavy for our psynergy."

"So how do we proceed?" Garet asked, kicking a rock into the water. Isaac looked over the area, and then noticed a bunch of tree trunks that had fallen into the lake.

"We could try crossing those, but even if we did, we wouldn't be able to reach the northern bank," Isaac said. Garet looked at the trunks himself, and saw that even if they had followed them, the trail of trees ended on the eastern coast, which was a dead end.

"Oh wow!" Ivan exclaimed from inside a tent. Isaac and Garet glanced over curiously, wondering what the teen had found.

Ivan ran out holding what looked like a fur coat. He looked rather excited to have it, which made no sense to Isaac. He raised his eyebrow, asking a silent question to his friend.

"Look at this," Ivan said excitedly, showing the coat to them. He undid the straps and opened it, showing them an thin layer of chainmail coating the inside of the coat. "Chainmail! I'm pretty sure that if I wore this, it would protect me much more than this travel tunic."

"Good find, Ivan. Chainmail is rare, so this guy must have been rather wealthy," Garet commented. Isaac was unconvinced though.

"Don't you think it's wrong to take from them while they are transformed?" Isaac prompted. Ivan looked down guiltily.

"Well, yeah, but currently, I think I could use it more than he could. Hang on, let me go ask him," Ivan replied, running back into the tent. Garet looked clueless.

"Ask…the tree?" Garet repeated, confused. Isaac realized that Ivan must be used his mind-read to send his own thoughts to the tree. That made sense.

"He said I could use it as long as I returned it after he's back to normal," Ivan informed then, rushing back outside with a grin on his face. Isaac nodded, showing his approval.

After Ivan got changed into the fur coat and packed his old travel tunic away, the three went back to the lake, trying to figure out a way to cross.

"I've got an idea, though it'll take a lot of work," Ivan spoke up. He walked over to the floodgates, gazing at them appreciatively. "We could drain the lake, move the trunks around, and then refill it!"

Isaac thought about that. The idea did have some merit. He didn't see the harm in trying.

"Sound good. There should be a lever around here," Isaac mused, walking around the floodgates. Eventually, he discovered a lever built into the easternmost wall of the floodgates. Taking a breath, he threw the lever.

There was a loud grating sound as the stone gates rose slowly. He smiled as he heard the sound of the water rushing through the gates. Walking back to the lake, the three watched as the water slowly drained out of the natural depression, returning to its original riverbed that wound through the area.

Then the hard part started. Thankfully, there was a set of muddy stairs that must have been carved into the cliff wall before they decided to dam the river. So the group descended to the bottom and began looking at the mess of tree trunks.

Isaac, with a little help from Ivan, managed to find the best way to arrange the trees so that when they refilled the lake, they'd be able to cross to the northern side.

Garet, being the smart guy he was, tried to climb the muddy cliff face to the north, but achieved nothing other than dirtying his clothes and looking like a complete idiot. Isaac found this very amusing.

Once they were all ready, the group proceeded to arrange the trees, expending much effort and sweat in the process.

"That took too much work," Garet complained, wiping his forehead. Isaac, for once, agreed. Why did the lumberjacks have to make everything so difficult for them?

They gathered on top of the floodgates once more so that Isaac could flip the lever one more time. The floodgates fell shut with a squelch, the stone sinking into the mud and anchoring there.

It took a good half hour for the water from the river to fill the depression. During this time, the group decided to rest, sleeping in the tents left by the lumberjacks. It was only a half hour, so Isaac, being the leader, stood watch the whole time.

When Isaac woke everyone up, everything was ready for them to proceed.

"This reminds me way too much of the water hopping back in Sol Sanctum!" Garet remarked, hopping onto the first floating tree and walking along it. Isaac barked out a laugh as he followed.

"I've never been there, so I wouldn't know," Ivan unhelpfully added. Garet sighed, hopping to the next tree.

"It sucked. Enough said," he finished. Soon, the group was on the northern coast, finally ready to continue on.

In the next area, the lumber camp ended. There was nothing in this area except for trees. However, there were two trees in the area that stood out for one reason: their size.

The trees were gigantic, towering over the rest of the forest in height. They were so wide, that even if the three of them had held hands and stretched themselves around any one in an attempt to encircle it, they wouldn't be able to complete the circle.

"Praise the heavens!" called a familiar voice from the foliage of the nearest of the two massive trees. "You're here at last!"

Isaac looked up, searching through the foliage for the source. As he watched, a figure descended from the tree branches. He tried to follow it with his eyes, but it was impossible, as it was dashing too fast from branch to branch. When it finally reached the ground, the three were finally able to get a good look at it.

It was Laurel, only there was one remarkable difference: she was no longer made of leaves. She stood before them, made entirely from human flesh, just like any normal girl. Her bright brown eyes twinkled with joy as she regarded them. Her hair was a silky brown color, with leaves entwined with the strands and a flower on her temple. She was also, as usual, completely naked. Isaac, Garet, and Ivan all turned a unique shade of red.

"Laurel, you're um…not made of leaves anymore," Isaac stammered. She smiled and nodded.

"Yeah and um…you're uh…much more…um…what's the word…uh…" Garet managed to get out as his eyes traveled down from her face towards her chest.

"Attractive?" Laurel provided helpfully, which only made Garet turn an even darker shade of red.

"Yeah that's the word. You have…very attractive flesh," he finally amanged to say. Then his eyes went wide. "Wait…that sounded really wrong…I mean…dammit!"

Laurel laughed, showing that she was not offended at all. She walked up to the three of them.

"The form I showed to you before was nothing but a projection of myself that I created with what little power I have. Now that you are here at my tree, I can show you my true form," she explained.

"That makes some sense I guess," Isaac remarked. "What do we do now?"

"Tret needs you. His anger has grown inside of him like a fungus, and the only way for him to see reason now, is for you to travel inside of him and confront the his anger at the source," Laurel explained. Isaac blinked.

"Wait, we can go inside of Tret? How does that work?" Ivan spoke up, giving voice to Isaac's thoughts. Laurel pointed to a small opening not far up the second tree's trunk. That tree must be Tret himself, though of his avatar there was no sign.

"So if I wanted, could I come inside of you too? Wait…I meant…CRAP!" Garet tried to ask, but it came out sounding extremely wrong. Isaac couldn't help but choke with laughter, as much as he tried not to. Ivan merely looked the other way and pretended to be checking his weapons, though the shaking of his shoulders gave away his silent laughter.

Laurel also found this to be incredibly hilarious. She burst out laughing, covering her mouth with her hand. As she laughed, her breasts began bouncing, which didn't make it any easier for Isaac to focus.

"_Think of Jenna…think of Jenna…" _Isaac thought furiously to himself.

"Yes, my tree has an interior too," Laurel answered after she had finished laughing. Her lack of care about the way others viewed her was indeed appealing, but then again, that wasn't surprising considering what Isaac had heard about nymphs from stories back in Vale.

"All right. If we need to find the source of his anger, we'll need to move fast. We don't know how much longer everyone has until Tret expires," Isaac finally spoke up. Ivan and Garet rallied behind him, their hands on their weapons.

"Good luck, you three. If you manage to succeed, I'll reward you greatly," Laurel said to them, smiling as she watched them move towards Tret.

"What kind of reward?" Garet muttered, quietly enough so that only Isaac could hear.

"Shut up, Garet," Isaac retorted. Ivan just sighed in exasperation. Isaac began climbing the handy set of vines that led up to the opening.

"Any kind of reward you want!" Laurel called up to Garet, who froze, shocked that he had been heard. But then he grinned.

"All right, let's MOVE!" Garet shouted, practically leaping up the vines after Isaac, who was trying hard not to facepalm.

The three climbed up the vines and traveled the small opening in Tret's tree, weapons at the ready. Isaac gazed into the darkness with a grim look on his face, not knowing what to expect. One thing he was sure of, however.

Tret was going to change by the end of this, for better or worse.

* * *

So that's the end of this chapter. So, some things to comment on. I changed the effect of both Gust and Forge in terms of presentation. Instead of a holographic sword appearing, I had the weapons catch on fire. For Gust, I don't know. The description for that one came out of thin air.

I changed a few things up in the forest as well. I put the lumber camp idea in there, which would explain all the random stumps and fallen logs that weren't there before. I apologize for all the liberties I'm taking with this story.

I think I'm overdoing it a bit with the whole, LOL LAUREL'S A NYMPH thing, but I found it funny so I ran with it. I also made a RvB reference in there somewhere. Kudos if you can catch it.

Yeah it's really hard to focus on writing author's notes when I've got rampaging friendgirls in my dorm knocking everything over.

Anyhow, feel free to leave a review and ask questions, because I assure you, everything gets answered.

**kinglumption:**Again, I have to hand it to this guy for being so ridiculously quick in his reviews. I'm glad you agree with my pairings as of right now. I have no idea what to do with everyone else. Felix and Sheba are a given. It's hard to not pair them, considering he jumped off a freaking lighthouse to save her. I have no idea what to do with Garet and Ivan. I'm thinking of pairing Garet with Mia, but I don't know. Maybe I'll invent a girl for Ivan, since I don't want to twist canon too much. As for Tiamat being a girl….you are totally right. I looked it up as well, and edited it into the chapter once I confirmed it. My hat is off to you, and you get a third pedestal :P

No other reviewers yet, but whatever. One is enough.

**ONE LAST POINT: I updated my profile recently with some ideas for some new stories. Please please visit my profile, give em a look, and PM me what you think. They are at the bottom, under Story Ideas.**

Oh, and I'm changing my farewell.

Terran34

Keelah Se'lai!


	12. The Showdown with Tret

Yeah. This sucks. I'm writing this in open office right now. If you're like me, you know how much open office sucks. So I've got shitty formatting and a shitty interface. So if you read my profile, the delay was because my MacBook Pro (silence, you Mac haters!) is in the shop because the LCD screen screwed up. So it'll be there for a while. The only reason I could get anything done is because I have a spare Mac. Yeah, you heard me. I have a spare Mac. So I have none of my files, so its a good thing that I had everything backed up on a portable hard drive.

Anyhow, enough about myself. Now to finally finish this Tret thing. So I'm trying to decide how to make this fight play out. On one hand, I want to make him super powerful, because he's the whole guardian of the forest and stuff. I also want to change his appearance, since when you fight him in game he's just a...floating face. Yeah, you heard me. It's really stupid. The fight should hopefully take up most of the chapter. I want to make him a difficult fight.

Oh and I bumped up the rating to M since I realized I was making a lot of sexual jokes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun. If I did, then I would be the man behind the helmet of the Judgement summon.

* * *

Isaac didn't know what to expect when he entered the interior of Tret's tree. He half expected to encounter a bottomless pit. He didn't like committing to something like this without knowing anything about where he was going.

He stood in the opening, peering into the darkness. He couldn't see anything except darkness, and the light from the outside barely made a dent in it. He cautiously put his foot forward, only to discover that he was stepping on empty air.

He let out a surprised grunt and lost his balance. He windmilled his arms, trying to stay upright, but he knew that it was in vain. He toppled into the darkness and fell.

"Isaac!" Garet yelled after him, worry evident in his voice. Isaac hit a solid surface, stomach first. The air flew out of his lungs instantly, and pain spread through his body, originating from his stomach. He lay on the ground still, not trying to move until he was recovered.

"I'm all right! It's not that deep!" Isaac called back to the others. Turning his head, he could see the silhouette of Garet outlined against the sunlight. Isaac saw Garet move and then disappear from his sight for a few moments before the redhead landed on his feet next to him.

"Ouch. You all right?" Garet asked, concerned. He snapped his fingers and a flame appeared above the tip of his thumb, lighting up the area. Garet then swiped his hand upwards, sending the flame to hover in the area above their heads so that it could illuminate the whole area.

"Yeah. Just a little winded," Isaac groaned, trying to catch his breath. Now that he could see, he realized that he was laying on a wooden floor. He turned his head, taking in his surroundings. They were in a tunnel that branched off into many smaller tunnels along the way, and the walls and ceiling were made of the same wood as well. It seemed like the tunnels had been formed naturally, since there were too many irregularities in the way the walls were twisted and wrinkled.

Ivan landed softly next to the two of them, looking around the tree itself. He shuddered, looking very nervous.

"I don't like this. It's like we are entering the stomach of a giant monster, walking to our deaths," Ivan stammered, his hand never leaving the hilt of his light blade. Isaac finally rose to his feet. His stomach hurt, but he was no longer breathless.

"Don't say things like that. We'll all get out of here alive," Isaac assured the teen, reaching his hand out to pat Ivan on his shoulder. The blonde didn't seem convinced, but he didn't argue.

"Let's get moving. Tret isn't going to defeat himself," Garet reminded them. Isaac nodded and took the lead as usual, the light from Garet's flame showing him the way.

When the three reached the first major intersection in the tunnel matrix, they came to a problem. They could easily get lost in this massive tree, where they would be easy prey for whatever monsters might be lurking in there.

"We can't afford to get lost," Isaac told them grimly. He turned to Garet, having come up with an idea. "Garet, can you char a bit of the wood on the wall here? So we'll know that we've been here."

Garet nodded, focusing a miniscule amount of psynergy into his hand. His palm began to steam and glow a light red color, similar to an iron brand. He pressed his hand again the wall for the briefest of moments, before removing it to view his handiwork. He had left behind a blackened imprint of his hand on the wood.

"Good thinking, Isaac," Ivan complimented. Isaac nodded, acknowledging his compliment, but didn't say anything. Talking over much could only result in drawing unwanted attention to themselves.

They walked down the largest tunnel, hoping to find something. They didn't exactly know what the source of Tret's anger was supposed to look like, so they were literally scrambling around in the dark.

They soon realized that they were not alone. Isaac walked past a smaller intersecting tunnel, his eyes focused on the tunnel ahead of him. Out of the corner of his eye, something detached itself from the shadows and dashed extremely fast from the intersecting tunnel. The entire group turned around, drawing their respective weapons.

"Something just moved behind me, I felt it!" Ivan shrieked, his nerve obviously coming close to breaking. Isaac looked around, but whatever had moved was gone now. It must have gone into another tunnel, but he couldn't tell which one.

"I saw it too," Isaac said, his hand tightening around the shaft of his battle axe. The group stood in silence for several seconds, with Ivan facing behind them and Isaac facing the front. They didn't want to get caught off guard.

"Whatever it was, it's gone now," Garet affirmed. The group began to move through the tunnel again, unease sinking into their minds. The tunnel began to wind and twist, the elevation rising steadily the whole time. They had yet to meet a dead end, which Isaac didn't' know whether to be relieved or worried about.

When they reached another intersection, the group again witness an unsettling event. Isaac was walking forward cautiously, taking each step one at a time. Rushing into these tunnels was a surefire way to get yourself trapped.

He became aware of the faintest of rustling sounds, coming from above him. Isaac's eyes jerked up to the ceiling, searching for the source. His eyes widened as he caught sight of _something _scuttling along the ceiling of the tunnel, but it disappeared into the darkness ahead of them before he could get a clear look.

"Did you see that?" Isaac hissed, continuing down the tunnel.

"Yeah. We're not alone in here," Garet replied. The only response from Ivan was a scared grunt.

The tunnel took a sharp turn to the right, heading further up into the tree. When it began to move straight again, Isaac's keen eyes spotted a human figure slumped against the tunnel wall. However, it wasn't human any more.

"What the hell?" Ivan whispered, looking at it. Lying on the ground before them in a pool of dried blood was a human corpse. The skin was mostly gone, revealing the skeleton underneath. It was dressed in rags and bronze armor that had been rent asunder.

"Did someone get this far? I thought only people with Djinn could resist the transformation," Garet mused. Isaac knelt down and observed the body. The smell indicated that it had been here for longer than a week at least.

"No...look here. See these marks?" Isaac replied, moving the body on its back. He thanked Ramses for the leather gloves he was wearing. He didn't want to touch it with his bare hands. The marks Isaac had been referring to were in fact scrape marks lining the back of the corpse's breastplate and bare legs. "He didn't get this far. He was dragged here."

"D...dragged? B...by..by wh...what?" Ivan stammered, frightened. Garet moved next to Ivan, trying to comfort him.

"Your guess is as good as mine. But one thing is sure. These are bite marks. This man was killed outside of the tree, brought inside, and devoured," Isaac explained, shuddering involuntarily. The claws of the man's killer had sliced right through a bronze breastplate, which was better than the leather ones they wore. That meant that this creature or creatures was a force to be reckoned with.

"Scary. Guess we better keep our eyes open, huh?" Garet remarked. Isaac nodded, getting ready to leave. However, he then noticed something glinting in the firelight on the corpse's hand. He looked to see that the corpse was wearing a strange looking ring, adorned with an odd looking gem that looked similar to a psynergy stone, only it was a cool aquamarine hue.

"Garet, doesn't this look like the healing stone back in Vale?" Isaac spoke up, taking the ring off of the corpse and showing it to Garet. The redhead glanced at it, and then his face lit up.

"It does! Aldric's healing stone was much larger than this, but I get a similar feeling from it," Garet answered, taking the ring. He traced a finger over the band, killing any germs that may have been on it with heat.

"Wait, that ring can heal us?" Ivan asked curiously, glancing over Garet's shoulder. Isaac nodded.

"To an extent. This is only a fragment of a healing stone, so I suspect that it will run out of power eventually," Isaac informed him.

"So not only do we have some Water of Life, we also have a healing stone! Hell yeah!" Garet boasted happily, putting the ring on and thrusting his fist into the air. Ivan froze.

"Wait, you have WHAT?" Ivan demanded incredulously, causing Isaac to hiss at him for raising his voice. Isaac motioned for them to keep moving. They moved on, leaving the corpse behind.

"We got some Water of Life from Vault's mayor. It was one hell of a gift," Garet explained.

"Yeah, no kidding. I could buy an entire city with that," Ivan retorted. The group lapsed into silence again, the dark atmosphere beginning to press down on them. The quiet darkness almost felt like it was crushing Isaac, and he longed to be out in the open air again.

When the group reached another large intersection of tunnels, Garet again left a handprint behind. Isaac was looking around, making sure they were not being followed.

His eyes moved across a tunnel, and he spotted two points of glowing ruby light in the darkness, resembling evil eyes. He clenched his axe and looked again, but the eyes were gone, making him think that he was seeing things.

"Let's stay on the main tunnel for now. It seems to be leading us further up in the tree," Isaac decided. The group followed his lead and entered into the dark tunnel.

Things grew even more nerve-wracking as they delved deeper into the tree. The tunnel shrank to a smaller size, so that whenever they reached an intersection, it no longer was apparent with tunnel was the main one. Other tunnels would be covered in a large, thick spiderweb that not even Garet's fire could destroy.

"How...how big are the spiders that made those?" Ivan asked, gulping loudly. Isaac looked at a spiderweb and shivered when he saw the bodies of birds and insects trussed up in them.

"I don't want to know. Let's just hope we don't run into any of them," Isaac answered. The group entered another tunnel, Garet marking the passage as they did so.

The tunnel grew even smaller, and other tunnels would randomly conjoin with it. The three would frequently glance into the other tunnels to make sure nothing was there. They already knew that something was following them. They just wanted to make sure that they weren't caught by surprise.

Isaac and Garet walked side by side, with Ivan watching their back. Ivan seemed to be handling the fear much better, though Isaac could still see him trembling slightly.

"What are we even looking for? What does anger look like?" Garet snapped, his patience fraying quickly.

"I don't know. I'm hoping we'll know when we see it," Isaac replied, shrugging. His voice echoed off the wooden walls as he spoke.

"I haven't seen anything except for endless wooden tunnels. I wonder if Laurel's tree is as gloomy," Garet continued. Isaac began to suspect that the redhead was just talking to ease his own nervousness. It wasn't a bad idea, after all. This place was starting to get to him too.

"Who knows. It's probably as nice as she is," Isaac commented, going along with his friend. Garet sighed wistfully, twirling his axe once.

"I swear, can we please see something NEW!" Garet yelled, finally losing his patience. Isaac glared at him, hissing a warning. They never knew what could be listening. "Ivan, do you see anything?"

There was no reply from behind them. Garet turned his head, wondering why Ivan wasn't responding. However, there was no sign of the Jupiter Adept.

"Ivan?" Garet repeated, alarmed. Isaac stopped and turned as well, his eyes widening when he couldn't spot his friend.

"What the hell? Ivan!" Isaac called out into the darkness. A drop of sweat formed on his brow as he grew scared for his friend's welfare.

"Where did he go? It's not like we were walking much faster than him," Garet whispered, confused and worried. Before Isaac could reply, a faint cry could be heard in the darkness back where they came from. Isaac and Garet instantly looked at one another and began sprinting in that direction.

"Ivan! Hold on!" Isaac shouted, his axe at the ready. His heartbeat pounded in his head as he ran. It took all of his will not to think about the consequences of losing Ivan.

His breath grew heavy. He couldn't hear Ivan anymore, so he didn't know where he was going at all. Isaac gritted his teeth and kept going, refusing to give up his journey here.

He heard Garet let out a surprised yell from behind him. Isaac tried to stop running, he overbalanced due to his momentum, and ended up tumbling onto the ground, jarring his body painfully.

Isaac jumped up to see the light from Garet's flame fading away. All he saw of his friend was his hair disappearing into an intersecting tunnel.

"GARET!" Isaac shouted, running into the tunnel. However, there was no sign of his friend, and the darkness swallowed him. "Dammit!"

Isaac slumped to the ground, overwhelmed by the disappearance of his friends. He couldn't see a thing. He was in total darkness. He was surrounded by complete silence, unbroken by any sound except for Isaac's own breathing.

"Shit...I need a light..." Isaac whispered into the darkness. His voice sounded strange and alien to him as it echoed off of the wooden walls.

Isaac hoisted himself to his feet and promptly hit his head on a hanging root, causing him to sit back down and curse profusely.

"Why? Why did this happen?" he asked of himself, though he couldn't answer. He almost couldn't believe that he was alone in a tree, his friends taken from him. He just wanted to shut his eyes and find himself back in the lumber camp, ending this nightmare.

Isaac slowly stood up, guiding his body away from the walls and ceiling with his hand. He felt like a blind man, stumbling throughout his hometown of Vale. Without guidance, he would fall into the river and drown.

He began moving forward, tracing the wall with his right hand. He kept calling out the names of his friends, though nothing answered him except the silence. He felt like the darkness was mocking him, as if it was holding his friends just out of his sight and leading him into a trap.

"Flint...Flint, wake up," Isaac whispered desperately. He felt the Djinni stir in his mind, and he smiled a little. He wasn't alone anymore.

"_Do you need my help, Isaac?" _he heard Flint ask patiently. He was very forgiving, despite being awoken in the middle of the day.

"More than ever. My friends are missing, I can't see, and I'm sure that something is hunting me," Isaac answered softly. He hated himself right now. He sounded like a small child afraid of the dark. Flint went quiet for a moment, worrying Isaac. "Flint?"

"_Hm, quite the situation you're in. I think I can help you though,"_ Flint finally said. Isaac let out a sigh in relief, a smile crossing his face. "_First things first. You need to see. Now tell me, what are your options?"_

"My options? I could blow a hole in the side of the tree, but that would kill it, and defeat the purpose of this mission," Isaac mused. "I lost Garet in the passage back there, so I don't have a light."

"_You are worrying about things that don't matter. You have to focus on your assets. What do you have on you right now?" _Flint admonished him. Isaac blinked, wondering what he could possibly do with what he had right now.

"I have my canteen, my armor, my shield, my axe, a few rocks, some travel rations, some Water of Life, and two Djinn," Isaac listed right off the top of his head. He knew he had more on him, but there was nothing else worth mentioning.

"_You are also in a tree. You have an infinite supply of wood, and you have metal and rocks. You already have what you need to make a torch," _Flint advised. Isaac snapped his fingers, the lightbulb flashing in his head. How had he not thought of that?

Using his axe blade, Isaac removed a root from the ceiling of the tunnel and began cutting it into a shape that he could use. When he finally had the hard root in the shape he wanted, he set about making the tinder.

He tore off a piece of his cotton shirt from under his breastplate and wrapped it around the top of the root, fastening it there with some twine.

Next, Isaac felt around in his bag and eventually took out one of the rocks he kept with him and held it next to his axe blade. He began striking the blade with the rock, trying to get a spark.

"Argh, this is much harder than it seems," Isaac grumbled, trying without success for a few seconds. Flint chuckled in his mind.

"_You got this, Isaac. I know you can do it." _Flint encouraged him. Heartened, Isaac struck the blade even harder, and he finally got a spark. He did it a few more times until the spark hit the torch and caused the fabric to smoke. He knelt down and blew lightly on the torch until the cotton ignited. The newly lit torch illuminated the tunnels around him with glorious light, and Isaac couldn't help bet let out a long sigh of relief.

"_Secondly, your friends are fine. As a Djinni, I am naturally attuned to the flow of Alchemy in the world. Seeing as you and your friends are Adepts, who carry the power of Alchemy in your bodies, I would have felt it if they had died," _Flint explained. Isaac was about to thank him when he heard a croak in his mind as the second Djinni awoke. "_Granite! No! This is MY side! Go back to sleep!"_

Isaac chuckled as he heard the two Djinni begin to tussle, though it made his head hurt trying to visualize two beings fighting in his head. Isaac had no choice but to put his shield on his back. He wasn't able to hold it at the same time as the torch.

He picked up the torch in his left hand, able to focus better now that he could see. The crackling sound of the flickering flame did much to soothe his troubled mind. Isaac then began progressing down his chosen tunnel.

"_Shall I keep you company, Isaac? Or am I allowed to sleep?" _Flint asked patiently. Isaac hesitated. He knew that if he kept Flint awake for too long, then he would get tired during the night. Isaac didn't want to share a dream with his Djinn, that was for sure. However, it would be better for his mental health if he didn't travel through this tree from hell alone. He relayed that to Flint.

"_In that case, then I would suggest you prepare for a fight. I am certain that whatever attacked your friends is after you next," _Flint said. Isaac didn't need the Djinni to tell him that. It was fairly obvious that he was the singular target.

He was about to turn into another tunnel when the hairs stood up on the back of his neck. Isaac froze and looked around. He was certain that he was being watched. Every instinct in his mind was telling him that he was in danger, but his eyes were showing him nothing to realize that fear.

An irregular shadow appeared on the wall. It seemed like a typical shadow that would be left by firelight, but Isaac's instincts told him otherwise. When it began to move, Isaac threw himself to the ground. The shadow zipped towards him, and a wooden arm with wicked looking claws extended out of the wall and swiped at the area where he had just been standing.

"What the hell!" Isaac cried as he watched the arm retract into the wall and disappear, the shadow fading away. He quickly assumed that whatever had just attacked him was the same as what had taken his friends.

_"Troubling. The monster resides in the wood and attacks from the shadows. Be very careful," _Flint advised him. Isaac put on a disbelieving face. Instead of giving him actual advice, all he got was "be careful." That was not helpful at all.

Isaac stood up, thankful that his fall hadn't extinguished his torch. He didn't have much time to collect himself, as he again spotted the strange shadow appearing just at the edge of his field of vision. It zoomed towards him, the claw emerging from the wall. Isaac glared at it and dropped his axe, an insane idea coming to his mind.

When the arm came close to reaching him, Isaac let out a roar and charged at it. He managed to close his fingers around the wrist of the arm. He winced as it struggled in his grip, slicing into his hand with its long claws, but he refused to let go. Isaac let out a yell of exertion, tugging with all of his might on the arm.

There was a cracking sound, and Isaac fell over as something gave way. He regained his balance swiftly, grabbing his axe from the ground as he did so. His eyes widened as he stared at what stood before him.

Standing before him was a man shaped figure made entirely of wood. Its legs were thinner than sticks, culminating in two tapered points for feet. Its waist widened out to form the torso, with two arms as thin as the legs, tipped with vicious claws. For a head, it had a roughly shaped oval possessing sharp, angular features. Its mouth was a dark gap with splinters of wood forming the teeth, and its eyes were two deep pits. As Isaac watched, the figure turned to look at him, two ruby points of light appearing in its eye sockets.

A chill ran down Isaac's spine as the creature regarded him. Its mouth opened wider and it let out a deafening roar seconds before it was upon him. Isaac reeled back as its thin tapered foot slammed into his cheek. Before Isaac could counterattack, it followed up with several vicious slashes that cut into his leather breastplate. Although none of the cuts physically hurt him, Isaac fell back, bruises already forming.

"Time to try you out, Granite!" Isaac shouted, reaching into his mind and contacting the other Djinni. Flint audibly huffed in his mind, but Isaac paid him no attention.

Isaac released the Djinni immediately before the creature could come at him again. He wasn't sure what the Djinni was going to do, but it was worth a shot when he couldn't even get an attack in. Isaac was suddenly surrounded by a yellow flickering aura that resembled flames, but weren't.

He wasn't able to contemplate what the effects of the Djinni were, as the creature shrieked at him and began to attack Isaac relentlessly. Isaac brought his axe up and blocked one slash after the other, though the creature was too fast for him. Its left claw collided with Isaac axe, the force of the attack moving his axe away from his body. Isaac's eyes widened as he realized that the creature had a clear path to his torso.

The creature didn't hesitate, instantly swinging its free claw towards Isaac. However, when it hit the flickering aura that surrounded him, the claw slowed to a stop, confusing both the creature and Isaac. The teen quickly determined that Granite's effect was to protect him with an earthen aura. He took this chance and clutched his axe in both hands. Then he let out a battle cry and brought his axe up, cutting into the creature's wooden torso.

The creature let a high pitched scream of pain and retreated, holding its wound with its left claw. A liquid that looking similar to tree sap seeped from the deep wound that Isaac had left, trickling through its claws and dripping to the ground.

"Don't you ever lay a hand on my friends!" Isaac shouted, charging forward. He did not intend to let this creature have any time to recover. Isaac unleashed a flurry of swift, but strong attacks towards the thing. Though wounded, it was not down for the count. It shrieked and began blocking each strike with its claws. Isaac growled in frustration, but didn't let up. He refused to be put on the defensive again.

Isaac grinned as he managed to cut into the creature's right arm, slicing it off. Sap gushed out of the wound as the thing began shrieking loudly. It retreated towards the wall at a high speed. Isaac instantly saw what it was doing and ran after it. He wasn't going to let it get away.

"I don't think so! Flint!" Isaac roared, his axe raised high. As Flint responded to his summon, his axe blades transformed into the essence of earth. The creature began merging with the wall again, intending to escape. However, just before it could disappear from sight, Isaac brought his axe down on the wall itself, his Djinni empowered blade cutting through anything and everything in its path, including the creature that had been hiding behind the wall.

With one last wail, the creature fell to the ground, dying. Isaac watched in shock as it began to glow with a yellow light. The light slowly changed shape and color, until it resembled a normal human form, colored purple. When the light faded away, Isaac let out a laugh of joy.

Ivan moaned weakly and opened his eyes slowly. When he saw Isaac, a tiny smile crossed the teen's face.

"Isaac? Am...am I alive?" Ivan murmured. Isaac knelt down beside his friend, worried for his physical health. He didn't know why the creature had turned into his friend, but that didn't matter right now.

"Ivan! Thank Ramses and Mother Gaia that you are still alive!" Isaac cried, invoking the name of every Venus-affiliated deity he knew. Ivan coughed and tried to stand. Isaac held him down for a bit, looking for injuries. He saw several cuts and bruises on Ivan's body, many of which looked serious.

"The last thing I remember is a wooden monster attacking me," Ivan related to Isaac, who was now wrapping Ivan's wounds with bandages after he had treated them with herbs. It was good he had thought to carry all sorts of things in his bag.

"It must have absorbed you or something. I had just killed it when you appeared," Isaac hypothesized. Ivan looked revolted by the thought of being inside a creature, and he cursed quietly. "Sit still, Ivan. I'll have this patched up soon."

"Where's Garet?" the injured teen asked. Isaac sighed, feeling a little guilty for letting the monster snatch away Garet. Though he was unsure why Garet hadn't appeared as well. If the creature he'd killed was the same one that was hunting them all, then shouldn't it have absorbed Garet as well?

"I don't know. One of the monsters got to him too," Isaac told him sadly. Ivan didn't reply, his gaze returning to the ceiling above him. "I'm sorry. I couldn't...I just wasn't fast enough."

"Oh, I'm not blaming you, Isaac," Ivan reassured him, looking back at him. Isaac wasn't convinced that he wasn't at fault in some way, but it helped that Ivan believed in him. "I'm more blaming Laurel, for not telling us what to expect up here. We had no idea that any monsters like this would be here."

"No kidding. Can you stand?" Isaac replied, standing up after he was finished patching Ivan up. The Wind Adept nodded and hoisted himself slowly to his feet.

"I'm all right. Let's look for Garet, Isaac," Ivan checked himself to make sure that nothing was missing. After he determined that his weapon and items were still on him, he and Isaac began walking down the tunnel again, looking for any sign of their friend.

Flint, his purpose complete, returned to his slumber in Isaac's mind. The blonde was feeling better now that he had light and one of his friends back, but he wouldn't feel at his ease until his childhood friend was back by his side.

* * *

They had been walking for at least an hour before they finally heard something other than the sounds of their footsteps.

Isaac stopped in place as he heard what sounded like an explosion. Ivan walked up next to him, a curious look on his face.

"Did you hear something, Isaac?" he asked, glancing up at his friend expectantly. Isaac motioned for him to be quiet. He listened intently to the darkness, and then he heard another explosion, followed by the familiar shriek of a wooden creature. Isaac drew his axe instantly.

"That must be Garet. Come on, Ivan!" he declared, and then he broke into a sprint. Ivan drew his blade and followed behind him.

Isaac felt the pounding of his own feet on the wooden floor. He quickly began to breathe hard as he searched the intersecting tunnels for Garet. More explosions caused him to change his direction into a different tunnel, following the sound. The first thing he saw out of the ordinary was another wooden creature charging towards them. Isaac readied his axe for battle, glaring at the attacking creature. He suddenly noticed that the creature was on fire and wasn't paying attention to them. Isaac took the opportunity to slice the creature across the torso, ending its life.

Following the creature was Garet, who surprisingly looked no worse for wear. When the redhead spotted Isaac and Ivan, a broad grin crossed his face.

"Isaac, you missed the party. The monsters were that way," Garet remarked, thrusting a thumb back over his shoulder. A vein pulsed in Isaac's forehead as he contemplated different acts of violence to perform on his friend for joking at a time like this. Then he couldn't help but smile.

"Garet, I thought I'd lost you," Isaac confessed, walking towards his friend. He extended his hand towards Garet, who accepted it. Isaac pulled the redhead into a brotherly embrace, out of relief that he was still all right. Actually, he didn't even have a scratch on him. Isaac became suspicious.

"You were fighting one of those things, right? Why aren't you hurt?" Isaac asked curiously. He wasn't exactly sure what he was suspicious of. It wasn't like the wooden monsters could shape shift. Garet shifted, showing the two his hand, where the healing ring they had picked up earlier could be seen on his ring finger.

"This baby saved my life today. Otherwise I'm sure I'd be dead," Garet explained, a smug look on his face. He then kissed the ring obnoxiously. Isaac sighed, a smile on his face. That was definitely his Garet. He looked behind his friend to see that the tunnel walls were scorched black.

"Wow, that must have been an intense battle," Isaac commented. He walked past Garet and found that the tunnel opened into a large chamber. When he saw what was inside, Isaac's jaw practically dropped to the floor.

There were at least a dozen of the wooden creatures littering the floor, their bodies blackened and burnt. Ivan walked into the room and whistled, impressed.

"What the hell? Just one of these things caused significant damage to me, and you killed over twelve?" Isaac marveled, walking into the room. He kicked the body of one of the monsters, which crumbled into ash. Garet leaned against the wall, looking particularly proud of himself.

"I uh...kind of went all out on these guys," Garet admitted. Isaac stared at him incredulously. He began to think that Garet just might be stronger than him if he could take on all of these monsters and come out alive. Then again, the monsters were weak to his psynergy, which put them at a distinct disadvantage.

"How's your psynergy?" Isaac asked, concerned. It wouldn't be good if Garet had used all of his psynergy fighting these things, since they didn't know how many more of them were out there.

"I used it all up fighting these guys," Garet said nonchalantly. When Ivan and Isaac looked at him in shock, he continued. "But these monsters seem to have the ability to absorb things, and then releasing them once they die. One of them released a psynergy stone, so I'm full up again."

"Yeah, that makes sense. One of them absorbed Ivan," Isaac said, indicating his friend, who looked rather sheepish. Garet looked shocked, and then he proceeded to walk in slow circles around Ivan, staring at him rather closely. Ivan laughed uncomfortably, running a hand through his hair.

"I'm fairly sure I'm all here, Garet," the blonde assured the redhead. Garet shook his head.

"That's not what I'm doing. I'm wondering why you're alive if you were absorbed. I killed one earlier and it dropped a dead body, so I thought that they sucked the life out of you," Garet mused. Ivan looked surprised by this, but it didn't last long until Garet ruined the moment. "Huh. Maybe you just didn't have any life to begin with."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? Garet!" Ivan demanded. The redhead bellowed out his laughter, walking ahead. Isaac just smiled and followed his friends back into the tunnel.

* * *

The next hour passed uneventfully. There were no more encounters with the strange wooden creatures, which was a blessing, since Isaac never wanted to see another in his life. He also didn't ned his torch anymore, since Garet was back with them, and the flame that hovered over his head lit the area around them.

The tunnel they chose to follow was noticeably increasing in elevation, spiraling steadily upwards into the upper reaches of the tree. It also grew lighter, as there were several openings in the side of the tree that revealed daylight. The group could not look out them to see how high they were, since they were on the upper part of the walls, and thus too high for them to reach.

The tunnel finally opened up into a massive chamber that easily could be assumed to span the length and width of the entire tree. Isaac clambered out of the tunnel and into the room, happy to be out of that depressing tunnel that they had been walking in for most of the day.

"Aha! We finally made it out!" Garet exclaimed exuberantly, throwing his arms in the air. Isaac grinned triumphantly. After all, he had been walking randomly through the tree and just happened to find the way out. That meant luck was on his side.

"I think we are at the top of the tree. I can see the outside from here," Ivan observed, pointing at several different "windows" in the walls of the room. Isaac followed his finger and walked over to one of the windows, which was really just a gap between two branches that merged to form the walls of the room. He looked outside and found that he could see practically all of Kolima forest from here.

"I hope this means we are close to finding to source of Tret's anger," Isaac grumbled. "I just want to get out of this freaking tree."

"Agreed," Garet concurred. Isaac cast his gaze around the room, noticing that these gaps were present in regular intervals around the entire room. There was also a massive hole in the center of the room. This was curious, so Isaac walked up to it and peered into it.

The hole descended into the blackness so far that Isaac couldn't see the bottom. He cringed, getting a mild case of vertigo, so he stepped back from the hole.

Almost immediately after Isaac returned to his friends, the group heard a loud chirp echo throughout the room. Isaac tensed, recognizing the sound. He could also feel both Flint and Granite wake up in his mind, reacting as they usually did to the presence of another Elemental Djinni.

"Isaac," Ivan warned, looking around the chamber. The group knew that the Djinn were unpredictable in the way they reacted to the presence of an Adept, which is why caution was essential.

"I heard it. It sounds like a Jupiter Djinni," Isaac deduced. Ivan nodded grimly. The group clumped together for protection and looked around for any sign of the Djinni.

The chirp came again, this time sounding a little angry. Then, out of the center of the room, the familiar lavender body of a Jupiter Djinni zoomed out of the hole in the floor.

"_Wait, I recognize that Djinni! Be careful, she can be rather..." _Flint tried to warn him, but before he could finish speaking, the Jupiter Djinni released a massive gust of wind that sent the entire group flying backwards. Isaac hit the wall, letting out a cry. His back throbbed painfully from the impact, but Isaac counted his blessings. It could have been much worse. Garet and Ivan suffered similar injuries, as they had not been expecting such a fierce attack.

"_...temperamental," _Flint finished, though the point was rather moot. Isaac leapt to his feet and sheathed his weapon, as he didn't want to hurt the Djinni.

"Weapons away! Let's use our psynergy to take this thing down!" Isaac commanded. Garet and Ivan nodded as they rose to their feet.

The Djinni again chirped in irritation and zoomed around the room to keep out of their range. It began sending potent bolts of lightning at each of them as it flew.

Isaac leapt into the air to avoid a bolt of lightning that had been aimed at him. He yelped and then plastered himself to the wooden floor, dodging a follow up bolt. Ivan was faring slightly better than he was. Ivan was using his own affinity with lightning to send his own bolts at the Djinni's canceling them out.

"I hate lightning!" Garet yelled comically, leaping and dancing to avoid the increasing frequency of lightning bolts being sent at him. Every time he had a chance to take a breath, he would shoot fireballs at the Jupiter Djinni. However, the Djinni was simply too small and fast to be hit, since it could easily zoom around them.

Isaac decided to take a chance and use his own psynergy. There was no rock or earth around here in the tree tops to use, but wood and plants was included in the Venus element, so he could control them. It wasn't his forte, as he had always been better at controlling rock, but he had to do something to stop that creature from zooming around.

"Hyah!" Isaac grunted, shooting his palm out and focusing his mind. He targeted the wooden ceiling, causing the wooden roots and branches to grow at an exponential rate, shooting downwards towards the Djinni. It easily avoided the wall of wood, but Isaac had counted on that. He immediately did the same to another part of the ceiling, shooting down another wall of wood. The creature chirped and zoomed away from it and back towards the first wall that Isaac had called.

Isaac grinned and shot down two more walls of wood, trapping the Djinni in a box of sorts. Now it was limited in the area that it could fly around.

"Good thinking, Isaac!" Ivan complimented, and he ran towards the box. Isaac saw what he was doing and created an opening in the box of wood for Ivan to run through, since the Djinni was his element. He and Garet ran through the opening after him before Isaac shut it.

The Djinni was mad now. The amount of lightning bolts it sent at them increased tenfold, causing the group to scramble around frantically to dodge them. Isaac felt ridiculous as he threw himself to the wall to avoid a large bolt from hitting him. It was almost like he was partaking in some twisted dance.

"Ivan! Take that thing out already!" Garet demanded, blocking a lightning bolt with a wall of flames. Ivan grunted in acknowledgement and created a massive downdraft with his mastery over wind in an attempt to force the Jupiter Djinni to the floor.

The Djinni screeched in surprise as it began flying towards the ground. Isaac could see it using its own psynergy to create an updraft in order to stabilize itself, but this backfired. As the opposing drafts of powerful wind met in midair, they began to twist around one another, forming a massive tornado.

Isaac yelled in shock as the tornado wrenched him off his feet and into the air. He could hear Garet's surprised yelps from nearby, letting Isaac know that he was suffering too.

In an attempt to stabilize himself, Isaac used his psynergy to create an outcropping of wood which he then grabbed onto. The tornado continued to pull at him, but he was able to form a smaller box of wood to keep himself on his feet. Garet had no such luck, and continued to fly around the box of wood that Isaac had created.

Ivan remained on his feet, his hands focused on the tornado, trying to make his downdraft overpower the Djinni's updraft. Sweat beaded on his brow, and he gritted his teeth. He refused to let this Djinni best him.

Ivan felt himself gaining some headway, and he could see the Jupiter Djinni struggling to remain airborne. He gave it one last burst of psynergy, and the Djinni slammed to the ground, the tornado dissipating. Garet abruptly found himself hanging in midair.

"Shit!" the redhead screamed, falling to the ground roughly. Ivan ignored him and glared at the Djinni, which managed to right itself. Its beady eyes oriented on him, the one who had brought it down.

"Give up! You're mine," Ivan ordered it. It responded with an angry chirp. Then a destructive arc of electricity surged through the air towards the teen. He hefted his staff, the tip glowing with a bluish white light, and he thrusted it forward. His own lightning lanced forth from the staff and collided with the Djinni's.

Isaac watched from his vantage point halfway up the wall as a battle of lightning commenced beneath him. The Djinni's purple lightning combated with Ivan's bluish white lighting, neither seeming to gan any headway. Ivan yelled with exertion as he forced his staff forward. His lighting pushed back the Djinni's ever so slightly. The creature flapped its tiny wings furiously and chirped, trying to hold Ivan's power back.

Ivan shouted a battle cry and took a step forward. His psynergy seemed to be triumphing against the Djinni, who seemed to be getting more and more flustered as it chirped rapidly and flapped its wings.

When Ivan's lightning finally reached the Djinni, there was a significant explosion that sent fragments of electrical energy all over the small box that Isaac had closed them in. Garet was caught in the edge of the explosion and was thrown against the wall.

"Why am I always caught up in these things!" Garet yelled helplessly as he slumped to the floor. Isaac looked down to see the Djinni lying on the ground, with mild burns covering its body. Ivan gasped, thinking that he had pushed to hard. The teen ran up to the Jupiter Djinni and lifted it gently in his arms.

"Tell me you're all right! We need your power!" Ivan pleaded with the injured Djinni. He heard a weak chirp, and smiled in relief as the Djinni gazed up at him with its beady eyes. The creature burst into lavender colored orbs of light that streamed into Ivan's body.

Isaac sighed, glad that the fight with the Djinni was over. They had all used more psynergy than they should have in this fight, meaning that they would have less to use against the source of Tret's anger, whatever that was. He jumped out of the box and formed wooden platforms so that he could descend to the ground without hurting himself.

"Ow...freaking ow..." Garet complained, though Isaac could see the only injuries he had were a few bruises. Isaac chuckled and lent him a hand, which Garet took. Isaac hoisted his friend to his feet.

"That...was tough," Ivan panted, replacing his staff on his back. Isaac nodded in acknowledgement. After all, Ivan had used more psynergy than the rest of them.

"How's your psynergy, Ivan?" Isaac asked worriedly, walking up to the teen. Ivan blinked, and then took a minute to check.

"I'm at about half full. Should be enough to deal with whatever this Tret's anger thing is," Ivan proclaimed optimistically. Isaac wasn't convinced, but he didn't say anymore about it.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Garet complained, though no one paid attention to him. Isaac instead was focusing on the feeling he was suddenly getting. It felt like a massive source of psynergy, though he was confused as to why he didn't notice it before. Perhaps the fight with the Djinni had distracted him or covered it up somehow.

Isaac walked over to the massive hole in the ground, tracking the psynergy he was feeling. It seemed to be coming from the bottom of the hole, but from the feeling he was getting, this hole went from the top of the tree to the bottom, which was hundreds of meters.

"I think the source is down this hole," Isaac finally said, drawing the attention of his friends. Ivan and Garet walked over to him and peered down the hole beside him.

"The source of Tret's anger? Are you sure?" Garet asked, getting on his stomach in a pathetic attempt to see the bottom of the hole. Ivan shuddered and stopped looking down.

"That makes me a little sick. We have no idea how far down that goes," Ivan admitted, holding his stomach. Isaac chuckled, glad that he wasn't the only one who felt queasy when he stared down that hole.

"_It's simple. You are Adepts. The only things you cannot do are the things you do not imagine," _Flint spoke up suddenly, surprising Isaac.

_ "_Pardon?" Isaac answered out loud, forgetting to think it. Ivan looked puzzled and started to repeat his last statement, but Isaac cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"_As you know, for each reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In normal circumstances, should you hit the ground from a fall like that, the ground would push up on you with the same amount of force that you hit the ground with. Since the force the ground is exerting on you would be more than your body could handle, your bones would snap," _Flint began, somehow managing to sound very intellectual. "_Yet the ground you are landing on is made of wood. Therefore, wouldn't it be feasible to manipulate the properties of the wood so that when you landed, the normal force exerted upon you by the ground would be at a level bearable for your bones to withstand?"_

"Flint..." Isaac began, looking thoroughly impressed. "You are a genius. That is an amazing idea."

"_Well, of course! All of my ideas are good," _Flint bragged, causing Isaac to chuckle. "_Now, you can tell your friends to use their powers to do something similar. For example, Garet can use his mastery of flames to propel himself upwards at a speed slightly less than the speed he is falling, therefore slowing his descent. Ivan is a Wind Adept, so he can simply use air flow to slow himself."_

_ "_All right. Garet, Ivan, listen up," Isaac said, and then he related Flint's ideas to them. They looked just as impressed as Isaac had after hearing it, and now the three readied themselves for the plunge.

"I hope I won't regret this," Garet muttered, walking up to the massive pit. He closed his eyes, gathered his psynergy, and leapt. "GERONIMO!"

Ivan and Isaac watched him disappear into the darkness, his parting yell eventually fading away. Isaac shuddered. Even though he knew that Garet would be okay, it was still disconcerting to watch.

"Huh. My turn. Here goes!" Ivan affirmed, and then he jumped into the pit, disappearing from sight. Isaac sighed, the feeling of vertigo hitting him once again. He began to sweat at the brow.

He stepped up to the edge. He bit his lip nervously as he looked down. If he did this wrong, he would be nothing but a pile of bones at the bottom of the pit.

"YAAAAAAH!" Isaac yelled, throwing himself into the pit. Light quickly vanished from his sight as he plunged into the blackness, and he was reminded of his time alone in the dark earlier in the tree.

The pressure in his ears quickly popped as he swiftly lost elevation, causing him to wince in the darkness. Air flew past his face so fast he could have sworn he was flying in the middle of a hurricane.

After a good thirty seconds of falling, Isaac saw a dim light from below him. He instantly cast his mind out, searching for wood to manipulate at the bottom. H eventually found it, and he wasted no time in softening the wood so it couldn't push up with enough force to hurt him.

He landed on both feet on the softened wood, which cracked and shattered, forming a sizable crater at his point of landing. He felt no worse for wear, and he grinned as he saw his friends Garet and Ivan looking at him from nearby.

"That looked badass. Just wanted to let you know," Garet quipped. Isaac laughed with his friend, and then he turned his attention to surveying the room.

The room was large and open, and the floor was covered with roots. This confirmed his suspicion that they were indeed at the very bottom of the tree. However, that was not the most striking feature of the room.

On the far side of the room, carved into the wall, was a enormous, male, human face. He looked to be old and wizened, appearing to be in his sixties. It was a magnificent piece of art, only something was wrong.

There were tendrils of some sort of black substance covering the face, seeping into its closed eyes and slithering into its mouth. The substance seemed to be alive, as some of the tendrils extended off of the face to form tentacles that waved around aimlessly.

"Is...is this Tret? What is that black stuff?" Ivan questioned, stepping towards the face. Garet reached forward and clamped his hand on Ivan's shoulder, preventing him from getting any closer.

"I don't like the looks of this. What do you think, Isaac?" Garet cautioned. Isaac walked up until he was a good five feet away from the face, gazing at it. The only signs of life from the face were the waving tentacles, which made a squelching sound as they moved.

"Tret? Can you hear me?" Isaac whispered to the face, ignoring Garet for the time being. He didn't know what the expect, but his hand went to his axe nevertheless.

As he watched, the carved wooden eyes on the statue opened slowly, revealing white corneas with red irises. His eyes were bloodshot, the arteries easily standing out on the white surface. The black tendrils snaked into the gaps underneath the eyes, giving them a demonic look. Isaac's hopes began to sink. This didn't look good.

"Hroom..." The face's mouth moved slightly, making a type of grunt. However, Isaac did recognize Tret's voice from the forest.

"Tret, can you help us? The people in the village..." Isaac began, but Tret suddenly roared at him, causing Isaac's mouth to shut with a clack.

"HROOM! You hoped to find my kindly self?" Tret demanded, the face coming alive with facial expressions, which were all of anger. "You are foolish for entering the very heart of my power, where no magical powers will protect you!"

"Isaac, this doesn't sound good," Garet warned, drawing his axe and hefting his shield. Isaac did the same. Somehow, he knew that Tret was going to give them a hard time.

"I will beat you down and stamp the power out of you, and then I will transform you into trees and watch you die with me!" Tret roared.. Just then, the face fell still. Isaac blinked. So it had made all these threats just to fall asleep?

Then the squelching of the black tentacles began increasing in volume. Isaac shot his gaze towards the black substance as it began to twist and retract its tendrils from the orifices of Tret's face.

"What the hell is it doing?" Garet whispered. The black substance dripped from the face at a high speed and collected into a puddle on the ground.

"I think we better get ready for a fight," Isaac warned them. He readied himself, connecting with the mind of Granite.

"Look, something's happening," Ivan informed them, indicating the puddle. The black substance was clumping together, forming two cylinders. The cylinders lengthened and thickened, forming into the shape of two incredibly muscular legs. It didn't stop there. The puddle began shrinking since the strange liquid was continuing to climb up the legs to form a torso and arms, each just as muscular as the legs. Wicked claws formed on the ends of the arms and legs, made out of the same substance. A head then formed, appearing roughly humanoid. Then, the head split in the middle and separated to form a gaping mouth complete with thin, lethal looking teeth. No eyes formed, and the creature began to breathe deeply, as if it had just formed for the first time.

"This can't be good," Ivan commented. The creature grinned evilly, facing them and flexing its newly formed muscles.

"Hroom..." the creature spoke, using Tret's voice. Isaac started. He was under the assumption that the face was Tret, and that the black stuff was his anger. However, his "anger" was speaking like Tret itself. This didn't make much sense to him.

"I shall show you the height of my power, humans. Bear witness!" Tret roared, and the battle began as he launched himself at Isaac, who was the closest.

Isaac saw Tret raising his arm for a punch and brought up his shield, his axe held high and ready to strike. When the black fist collided with his shield, Isaac's eyes widened as the sheer force behind the attack sent him skidding backwards. He lost balance and tumbled end over end onto the floor.

"Isaac!" Ivan cried, hefting his staff. Ivan and Garet ran in front of Isaac, preparing to fight Tret until he could regain his balance. Ivan thrust his staff forward, shooting potent lightning at the monster. Garet added his own psynergy by shooting a fireball from his fist.

Tret laughed derisively, not even slowing his pace. He deflecting the lightning by backhanding it with his hand, and summoned a wall of plants seemingly from nowhere to block Garet's fireball.

"Hroom! Don't think I'm like the monsters you've faced before!" Tret snarled, pressing the attack. The monster struck at Garet multiple times with his powerful fists. Garet yelped and dodged one or two of the blows before the third caught him in the middle and sent him careening into the wall, which cracked under the impact.

While Tret was dealing with Garet, Ivan shouted in anger and released an even stronger wave of electricity at Tret. When the psynergy collided with the monster's shoulder. Tret let out an annoyed grunt. Ivan's face emptied of all color as Tret turned around, seemingly unaffected by the attack.

"Such weak attacks. Was it a fluke that you blocked my transformation before?" the monster observed, and then he swung his arm at Ivan.

Isaac was there in a flash, slicing his axe into Tret's arm before it could hit Ivan. Tret let out a grunt of pain, drawing his arm back. The wound left on Tret's arm stayed for a few seconds, and then it closed up with a squelch.

"Don't let your guard down. This may be our toughest fight yet," Isaac surmised. Ivan nodded, collecting himself. Garet managed to gather together with Ivan and Isaac, wincing as he cracked his back.

"I won't underestimate him again," Garet assured the other two. Isaac then glanced at Garet, an idea coming to his mind.

"Garet. Forge," Isaac said tersely as Tret prepared to attack them again. Garet nodded, reaching into his mind for the Djinni.

"Hroom! Your lives end today!" Tret bellowed, launching himself at the group again. Ivan stepped forward, his face set with determination. He summoned a wall of raging wind, colored purple with his psynergy, and sent it at Tret. It did nothing but slow the raging monster down, cutting into his flesh slightly. However, that was all that Isaac needed.

"Granite, shield us from harm!" Isaac released one of his Djinni, which cloaked the group in a earthen aura of protection.

"Forge, become our blades!" Garet followed suit, and their weapons ignited with intense flames. Tret then reached the group, knocking Ivan aside like a rag doll and attacking Isaac and Garet with fast kicks and punches.

Isaac, thanks to Granite's protection, was able to dodge underneath one of Trent's punches and summon his other Djinni, Flint. As his weapon transformed into a flaming yellowish energy, Isaac sliced forward, cutting into Tret's torso, knocking him back.

As Tret roared in pain and anger, Garet pressed the attack, sending a wall of flames towards the monster, which engulfed it.

"All right! We've got this!" Garet cheered. Isaac ignored him and ran over to Ivan, who was hoisting himself to his feet.

"Ivan, are you all right?" Isaac asked, helping him up. Ivan nodded, trying to catch his breath.

"That defensive Djinni of yours is the only reason he didn't break my ribs," Ivan confessed. Isaac was about to say something when Tret bellowed his anger through the entire room. He stepped out of the flames, which extinguished themselves in a flash. All of his injuries began healing themselves, except for the one inflicted by Flint, which was healing much slower than the others.

"HROOM! This power...you humans are stronger than I took you for. I won't make the same mistake again!" Tret barked. Then, black tentacles erupted from his back and assaulted the trio. Isaac wasn't even able to move before a tentacle wrapped about his middle and wrenched him into the air.

Garet screamed Isaac's name and tried to help him, only to be batted aside by a tentacle like he was nothing. Ivan sent a hyper-concentrated blast of wind towards a tentacle coming at him, slicing it off. This didn't bother Tret at all though, as the monster merely sent two more at the teen. Ivan managed to slice another in half before the second one impacted him in the chest and wrapped around him.

Isaac yelled out in pain as the tentacle constricted around him and began slamming him into the walls. The breath left his lungs when he hit the first wall. The second one he hit caused him to see stars, and he didn't know how he was going to be able to stay conscious after a third hit. The next thing Tret did was to smash Isaac and Ivan together, their heads knocking together painfully. The monster laughed triumphantly and tossed them aside.

Isaac's vision blurred as he hit the ground and rolled to a stop on the wooden floor. He knew that the last impact had broken a few ribs. Garet managed to run over to him, slicing through a tentacle as it came at him.

Ivan stumbled to his feet, slightly dizzy from the amount of damage he took from hitting Isaac.

"We're outmatched. Even with the three of us, its destroying us!" Garet shouted angrily, helping the barely conscious Isaac to his feet.

"What do we do? Isaac?" Ivan pleaded with his friend, hoping that the blonde had a plan that would save them. In fact, Isaac had a plan, but it was beyond insane.

"I...need you..." Isaac mumbled, his voice growing louder as he returned to his senses. He planted his feet on the ground and screamed at the top of his lungs. "RAMSES!"

Garet and Ivan stared at their friend in shock at the name he had uttered. They couldn't believe that their friend was trying to summon such a powerful deity as that. The cost for such a summoning was bound to be high. In fact, Garet remembered Flint saying that Ramses would take limbs from those who summoned him.

"ISAAC, NO!" Garet shouted, but it was already too late. The entire tree began to shake, as if the earth was moving under their feet. A huge amount of psynergy diffused into the air, causing Garet and Ivan to fall to their knees under its power.

"What is this? Hroom, I have never felt such power!" Tret demanded, looking around in confusion. Isaac began to laugh in a demented way as the shaking increased.

A bright white light shot down from the hole where the three had entered the room. Something was coming down after them, and it was more powerful than anything the group had ever felt.

"Ha...ha..hey tree! You think you are so tough...why don't you try facing a GOD!" Isaac screamed at Tret, completely forgetting the cost of summoning something so powerful.

"You are a pathetic human...this light show will gain you nothing," Tret boomed, not convinced. However, when the monster took a step forward, something fell from the pit, slamming into the wooden ground. The ground cracked and ruptured under the weight of the object. The ground ceased shaking and the light dissipated to reveal the object.

Tret and the three Adepts looked to see an ornate sarcophagus created out of pure gold, covered in ornate carvings and jewels. The sarcophagus was in the shape of a perfectly formed man, dressed in a wrappings of pure gold and gems, with a golden face. The arms of the man were crossed, and in each hand was an odd instrument that didn't look like anything Isaac had ever seen. The head of the man bore an expressionless face, and wore a heavily adorned headdress covered in gold and blue stripes.

"Hroom..." Tret grunted, confused. Garet, Ivan, and Isaac gazed at the sarcophagus in fear and respect. Isaac knew that what he had done was crazy, yet it seemed to be their only chance of surviving.

The sarcophagus had two latches on the side that kept it closed. These latches suddenly snapped open, and the lid began to slowly open. There was a hissing sound as air rushed into the sarcophagus, hinting that it had never been opened for a long period of time.

Standing inside the sarcophagus was a tall man dressed in regal clothing that seemed to be designed for a desert environment. His clothes were formed out of gold and silk, showing his fame and riches. His skin was tanned, signifying a long life in the desert sun.

He was wearing a golden mask similar to the one portrayed on the front of the sarcophagus, so his face could not be seen. His headdress cascaded down to his shoulders, and he truly looked like a king.

"Ram...ses...?" Isaac whispered. The deity stepped out of the sarcophagus, a golden staff tipped with the head of a King Cobra appearing in his left hand. There was a curved scimitar sheathed at his side, the hilt made of ivory encrusted with gems.

"What are you?" Tret asked the god. Ramses made no reply. Instead, his dark hand slowly went to his side and curled around the hilt of his scimitar. He slowly unsheathed it, the metal of the blade grinding along the metal of the sheath. "I asked you a question!"

Ramses let go of his staff, which remained floating in midair. With his left hand, he reached up to his mask and unclamped it, letting the golden ornament fall to the floor and shatter.

The deity's face was revealed to be a handsome, perfectly sculpted one, without a single blemish or scar to detract from the image. His eyes were a cold blue and outlined by some sort of black dye that curved around the sides of his face.

"I asked you what you are!" Tret roared, and he lunged at the god, claws outstretched. Ramses's eyes flashed, and Tret let out a yelp as he was engulfed in an explosion that sent him careening into the wall on the other side of the room.

"For the love of all that's holy..." Garet whispered in awe. Ramses didn't stop there. The deity grabbed his staff and suddenly launched himself into battle. Tret saw the god coming and blocked his sword strike with both hands. The impact created so much force that the ground around them cracked and wind was sent blasting through the room, causing the Isaac to squint and his hair and clothes to flutter behind him.

The Adepts could do nothing but watch as Ramses and Tret engaged in a fierce melee. Claw met scimitar again and again in a flurry of sparks. Watching the god fight was like watching a choreographed dance. Ramses's body flowed like water, each attack performed elegantly. None of Tret's attacks managed to bypass the deity's guard. The way the god was fighting, it was clear that the god was not even using a fraction of his full power.

"This is impossible!" Tret roared. While none of his attacks could get through, every other strike, Ramses easily inflicted wound after wound, though none of them were life threatening. Ramses was toying with the creature.

Isaac noticed that as they fought, the room made of wood began to peel away, like everything it was simply a page of a book and some cosmic being was turning the page. Left in its place was a massive desert that extended over the horizon. Isaac found himself standing atop a sand dune, staring at Ramses and Tret fight at the foot of a giant pyramid.

"Where...where is this? How did we get here?" Ivan squeaked, now seriously frightened. Isaac gulped. He now realized that he had no idea what he was summoning when he called for Ramses.

"This...this is Ramses? He's incredible..." Garet trailed off, watching the fight. Isaac could only nod.

Tret growled and created several more black tentacles from his back and sent them at Ramses, intending to defeat him the same way he had Isaac. The god barely paid attention to them. He simply annihilated them with a blast of sheer Venus psynergy, burning Tret severely in the process.

Ramses seemed to grow bored of fighting with Tret, as the deity suddenly stepped up his attacks. With his staff, the god lifted Tret into the air with what teemed to be telekinesis, and then he threw the monster into the wall of the pyramid. Next, Ramses pinned the monster there with two large spikes of rock.

"No! I will not be defeated!" Tret snarled, struggling against the spikes that were impaling his shoulders. Ramses slowly walked back towards Isaac and his friends. The god finally made eye contact with the one who summoned him.

Isaac gulped as the god raised his hand. However, he did not expect the wave of revitalizing energy that washed over him, filling him with energy. It did not, however, heal his wounds.

"Thank you..." Isaac groaned, rising to his feet despite the harsh pain that shot through his ribs. Ramses said nothing, and instead turned back to Tret. He raised a hand, and two massive boulders in the shape of fists materialized above his head. The hand fell, and the fists streaked forward and slammed into Tret, creating an explosion so bright, the group had to shut their eyes.

When Isaac reopened his eyes, he found himself back in the bottom of Tret's tree. He hadn't understood a single thing that had happened, except for the fact that a heavily injured Tret was standing in the center of the room, panting heavily. There was no sign of Ramses or his sarcophagus.

"How...how are you this strong?" Tret groaned. The monster struggled to rise, shaking incessantly as he did so. Isaac clenched his axe in his hands, exchanging looks with his friends. This was their last chance to finish this.

"Come on. Let's end this!" Isaac declared.

"Couldn't have said it better myself!"

"This is for Kolima!"

The three let out battle cries and charged at Tret, who was too weak to prevent them from hitting him. Isaac felt his axe sink into the monster's shoulder with satisfaction. Garet gouged Tret's other shoulder, and Ivan finished the job by impaling the creature through the middle.

When they withdrew their weapons from Tret's body, the monster slumped to the ground, utterly defeated. Isaac let out a sigh, and then regretted it when his ribs pained him horribly.

"Isaac, you look like you're hurting. Let me help you out," Garet observed. Isaac watched as Garet extended his hand, which had the ring with the healing stone on it. It began to glow blue, and Isaac shut his eyes as the pain in his ribs faded.

"I still can't believe you summoned Ramses. You are nine kinds of insane, Isaac," Ivan chastised , an angry expression pasted on his face. Isaac chuckled nervously, since he knew Ramses was going to exact a heavy toll on him for daring to summon him.

"No kidding. As kick-ass as Ramses is, it was too risky for you to summon him. What would we do if you lost a 'limb or two?'" Garet added, turning his attentions to his own wounds with the ring after Isaac was at full strength.

"I know, I know. I got rather desperate. I'll figure something out when he comes for me," Isaac admitted ruefully.

Just then, a loud squelching sound echoed throughout the chamber. Their heads turned to see the black substance wasting away and disappearing. When the blackness had fully disappeared, there was an old, nude man lying on the ground. The man abruptly came awake.

"Ugh...what...I...oh..." the man groaned in Tret's voice. Isaac blinked. First, Tret was some crazy monster, and now he was an old man? Well, this made more sense. He was like a male version of Laurel now.

"Isaac, you're already healed. Help him," Garet suggested. Isaac nodded and walked over to Tret. The old man turned his head and locked eyes with the teen, smiling gently.

"Hroom. I'm sorry, young man," Tret murmured. Isaac gently clasped his wizened hands and helped him to his feet.

"For what?" Isaac asked. He was sure Tret was apologizing for his rampage, but it was better to be certain.

"I was...just so angry they were destroying my forest," Tret began, leaning heavily on Isaac's shoulder. "When I got the power to do something, I lost myself in my anger."

"Hang on, what do you mean you 'got' the power to do something?" Garet asked, perplexed. He had just finished healing himself and was now tending to Ivan.

"A few weeks ago, many strange gemstones fell from the sky. That was when I lost myself," Tret explained. Isaac started. He was clearly referring to the psynergy stones spread by the eruption of Mt. Aleph.

"Never mind that. We need you to return the people of Bilibin and Kolima to normal," Isaac cut across him. Saving Tret from his anger solved nothing. He was still withering, and the people were still trees.

"Oh. I remember now...yes, I must do that. I can not let them die with me," Tret responded. "Come with me."

Tret walked towards the far wall and opened a passage to the outside using some of his power. Isaac followed him out. Garet finished healing Ivan, and then the healing ring broke from overuse, to his chagrin. Then the two walked outside into the forest again.

"Ah, fresh air!" Garet exclaimed, taking in a deep breath. As Tret walked into the open forest for the first time in weeks, he smiled softly.

"Tret! Young ones, you did it!" Laurel descended from her tree and ran over to the old man, embracing him warmly. Tret laughed good-naturedly, hugging the attractive woman back. Isaac grew aware of Garet staring at the man from behind him, clearly jealous.

"Laurel, my sister. It is good to see you are still safe," Tret beamed. Garet did a double take and looked away, having misunderstood.

"Oh, okay. Sister. That's all right then," the redhead muttered. Isaac let his face fall into his hand. How could he even mistake their relationship? Isaac had thought it was fairly obvious.

Tret released his sister at last and then gazed into the sky. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate.

"I shall do my best to free everyone," Tret said. The trio watched in anticipation, but nothing happened. Tret opened his eyes and sadly looked at the ground. "I...I am sorry. My power is too weak to undo the curse now. Forgive me."

"Isaac! He's too weak to save the people of Kolima!" Garet cried, looking distraught. Isaac let out a moan of hopelessness. All of that effort, and they still couldn't save anyone.

"No! We have to heal him! We can't let everyone die with the forest!" Ivan resolved, turning his gaze to Laurel, who was looking saddened. "Is there anything we can do?"

"I'm afraid not. There is no way to heal a physical wound like that. Unless..." Laurel admitted.

"Unless what!" Isaac snapped, perhaps a little too harshly. Laurel looked taken aback, but replied anyway.

"The Water of Hermes would be able to save him. But that's all the way up north in Imil," Laurel revealed. Isaac clenched his hand into a fist and gazed her in the eye.

"We'll do it. We'll go to Imil, stop Saturos and Menardi, and bring the Water of Hermes back to you," Isaac announced.

"Yeah, Isaac!" Garet cheered. Ivan looked a bit worried.

"Do we have that much time? Tret, how long do you think you can hold out?" Ivan inquired. Tret sighed and sat down, his back resting against the side of his tree.

"If I don't use any of my power, I believe I could cling to life for at least another two months," Tret estimated. Isaac let a grin cross his face.

"That's plenty of time! We'll get back here by the end of the first," he promised. "Except we need to rest for tonight. I'm afraid we spent the rest of our daylight inside the tree."

"Good point. Tret, Laurel, do you mind if we set up camp here for the night?" Ivan requested. Tret nodded kindly, indicating the grassy clearing where the two massive trees were situated.

With that, the group began setting up camp for the night. It had certainly been a day to remember. Between traversing the forest and fighting Tret at the height of his anger, Isaac felt like he could sleep for a week and still wake up tired.

When he settled down to sleep, he remembered that he still had to do a favor for Ramses.

* * *

Yep! I'm ending it there. This chapter has dragged on a lot longer than I expected. In fact, with over 13000 words, I think I've broken my record. After I reached 9000, I was already in the middle of the fight, so I just decided to tough it out and finish the Tret arc. Of course, now they are going to Imil to fight Saturos and stuff.

So I made a few changes. I'll address them here. So the Tret tree was a few floors with spiderwebs and stuff. Firstly, this whole arc reminds me of the Deku Tree from Zelda. Shall I call him Queen Gohma? No, I shan't. Therefore I cut out the leaves and hopping and vine climbing, and simply made it a hive of tunnels. I invented a few monsters too, like the wooden wall shadow monsters.

I keep thinking that I rushed the Tret fight, but that might just be my paranoia. I wanted to include the Ramses summon here too, which I think I pulled off rather well. I changed Ramses's appearance because I never liked him ingame because he was just like, "I'mma pound the ground and you die." So I decided to make him more like an immortal Egyptian Pharaoh. Anyhow, speaking of the Tret fight, I decided to make his anger manifest itself as a monster, and that is what they fought. That would make more sense than whacking a floating face repeatedly and then Tret goes "I'm better now!"

How did you like the fight with the Djinni, by the way? I will always try to make the Adept whose element matches the Djinni's be the one to defeat it. In this case, Ivan had an Apprentice vs the Emperor moment in order to obtain the Djinni.

I also noticed something rather funny. Recently, I noticed that there is another person (Detective Dorian) making a Golden Sun novelization, and he posted just yesterday. My first response was OMG I HAVE A RIVAL GRR! My second response was, let's give it a read and see if its any good. Well, I did just that, and found that none of our stories were better than the other. It's just, our writing styles are different, and the way we interpret the game is different. That's my opinion, and I wish him luck.

Anyhow, shoutouts.

**Kinglumption: **Come on man, you were a bit behind this time! Just kidding. Take your time, I'm not a nag. But I'm glad you like the Laurel is a wood nymph thing. I just thought that some sex appeal was better than a wooden face. I hope you liked this chapter better. I'm with you: I want to get the hell out of this forest.

**JamesK716:** Sure, you only posted on the first chapter, but it's better than nothing. Maybe if you read this far you'll actually get to see this shoutout. Anyway, I reread the first chapter and I agree that it needs to be edited. Jacobsen was a last minute name I threw in there because my creativity for names is shit. True story.

**Cstan: **This. Guy. Rocks. He/she (he/she didn't say) posted on all eleven of my chapters, which made me very happy indeed. Thank you so much. I'm glad you liked my story. However, I did happen to notice that you agreed with my assessment that Quarians are f*cking awesome. If you are a male, then you are freaking amazing. If you are a female...F*CKING MARRY ME! Lol just kidding. Just read a rage comic that did that and thought I'd use it.

**As I said before, look at my profile and check out my story ideas. I'd like some opinions from you all.**

Terran34

Keelah Se'lai!


	13. Journey to Imil

Yeah, it took me longer than usual to crank out this chapter because I spent a day or so writing the Fairy Tail fanfic, and then writers block hit me HARD! Fucking writers block needs to die in a fucking hole.

So I'm actually going to buckle down and get to Imil this chapter. I'll probably spend the majority of the chapter in Imil, talking to the townspeople and learning about Mia. Finally! A female main character!

But yeah, let's start this chapter off already.

Disclaimer: I am not racist in any way. Any views expressed in the story are of the characters themselves and not the author's.

Disclaimer: If I owned Golden sun, then I'd be living in Camelot. Since I don't Camelot is living within me. Owning my soul.

* * *

Isaac woke up in a very strange situation. The first thing he noticed was the overwhelming heat. His body was drenched with sweat, causing him to notice the second strange thing. He wasn't wearing any armor.

He lurched up to find that he was laying on a massive sand dune over looking a huge desert. It was very similar to the desert where Ramses and Tret had fought back in the tree, which caused a pit to form in Isaac's stomach. This couldn't be good.

Isaac stood up and looked around. He could see a massive construction project going on down at the bottom of the sand dune. There were several stone blocks larger than houses surrounded by wooden scaffolding.

He could also see other people down there as well, working hard to build whatever it was they were trying to build. Most of the people looked strange. Their skin was black, as opposed to Isaac's white. That made him start.

In school, he had learned about Ramses and his domain. The god's servants were said to have black skin to indicate their servile status, and he was seeing black skinned people in front of him. Did that mean he was in Ramses' domain?

Isaac nearly leapt out of his skin when he heard heavy footfalls on the sand behind him. He whirled around, instinctively reaching for his axe, which wasn't there. The person before him was very familiar, and yet Isaac couldn't help but feel frightened.

Ramses stood tall before him, his scepter clasped in his right hand. The god was smiling slightly, as opposed to the indifferent look he had worn during the fight with Tret. He radiated an aura of power and good humor, which was the opposite of what Isaac was expecting.

Ramses chuckled in a deep voice as he watched the color drain out of Isaac's face. He stepped closer to the teen, nearly causing Isaac to topple off the top of the sand dune.

"You look surprised to be here, Isaac," Ramses observed, his eyes twinkling. Isaac nodded and gulped, speechless in the presence of someone so powerful. "Relax, I have no need for your limbs."

"How…how did you know I…?" Isaac stammered, confused. He knew the god was omnipotent, but he wasn't sure how Ramses had figured out why he was so nervous.

"Please, did you really think that I don't know what my Djinni said to you?" Ramses interjected, tucking his scepter underneath his arm and leaning on it. Isaac shook his head frantically. It wouldn't be a good idea to piss him off. Then he might really take a limb from him.

"Walk with me," Ramses commanded. Isaac followed him wordlessly as the god began to descend the sand dune. The sand on the ground streamed to the deity's feet at a high speed to form a less steep walkway for him to walk on. Isaac followed him on that same new walkway, though he was scared that it might disintegrate beneath him.

Ramses swept his arm out, indicating the building being constructed at the bottom of the dune. The smile on the god's face grew wider as he gazed at it, seemingly unperturbed at how slowly progress was moving along.

"As you were told, I don't like to interfere in earthly matters," he snapped, his tone growing slightly irritated. Isaac flinched at the change in tone, and he clenched his arms closer to his body in a pathetic attempt to save them.

"I…didn't have much of a choice," Isaac defended himself weakly. He hated how pathetic he was sounding right now, but it was hard to summon up courage in the presence of something so unearthly.

"It doesn't matter why you called me. The fact is that you did," Ramses corrected him sharply. "Don't you think I have better things to do than save one puny human like yourself?"

"Yes, but…" Isaac started, but was cut off again. Apparently most of the god's questions were rhetorical.

"Therefore, I have decided to make you work with the rest of my servants in building my pyramid," Ramses finished. Isaac blinked. That wasn't too bad, actually. Sure, the heat was bad, but he believed that the god wasn't stupid enough to make him work without water.

"That doesn't sound too bad," Isaac commented. The two of them finally reached the bottom of the sand dune, attracting the attention of the dark skinned servants. Ramses stopped and turned his direct gaze to Isaac, a wicked grin crossing his face.

* * *

"Fuck my life," Isaac groaned, sweat cascading off of his head and shoulders. He was toiling with hundreds of other men, whom were all struggling to push a massive stone block up an oiled ramp.

"This doesn't sound too bad, oh it doesn't, does it? What the fuck was I thinking?" Isaac repeated, shoving with all of his might against the block with the others. He took a small step forward, the block inching up the ramp at a snaillike pace.

"Less talking, more working," the servant next to him panted into Isaac's ear. The teen growled and mumbled under his breath, but continued giving it his all.

Ramses was watching the whole scene from a jeweled throne at the foot of the incomplete pyramid with amusement. He wasn't that bad of a taskmaster, to be honest. He didn't torture the workers at all unless they refused to work. In his own words, it was an affront to the others if one person slacked off.

Isaac had an unlimited supply of water strapped to his leg, in the form of a small bottle. A long tube extended from the bottle, twirled around his leg and torso, before finally ending right at the edge of his mouth, where he could easily take a drink whenever he needed one. It was very convenient. Not to mention that if he didn't drink, he would die of dehydration in an hour.

Speaking of dying, it was impossible to die here. Several times, Isaac had seen a block or a pile of rubble crush a servant to nothing, only for that same servant to rematerialize right next to Ramses, just in time to get back to work. That made it easier on Isaac's mind, but he had yet to die in that manner.

Isaac took a long swig from his bottomless water bottle, and then resumed pushing on the block. Eventually, the ramp leveled out, making it easier to push the block where they needed to go.

"Bring it over here!" a dark skinned man called over near the edge of the current tier of the pyramid. There was an empty spot just large enough for the block to fit near him. Isaac groaned and helped the servants turn the block so that they could move it into place.

The next few minutes were spent maneuvering the block until it was securely into place. Then, Isaac and his hundreds of comrades would cement it into place with some sort of paste made out of sand and a strange substance.

That was how Isaac spent an exorbitant amount of days. Night came and went. Every time night arrived, it would give the workers even more of an incentive to work. If one stopped moving for even a few minutes, he would surely freeze to death. Temperatures here in Ramses' realm were extreme.

Isaac barely got a chance to sleep or rest, so he continued to work almost mechanically for days on end, until at last he collapsed from exhaustion in the middle of the second month of work.

"Do you now understand how belittling it is to be summoned by a human like yourself?" Ramses asked in a dangerously soft voice. Isaac turned his head and gazed up into the god's eyes. He didn't have the strength to talk, so he only jerked his head erratically and groaned softly.

"Good. Now, I hope you'll refrain from summoning me in the future," Ramses expressed. Isaac couldn't keep himself conscious any longer, and he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

"Isaac…it's time to go," whispered a voice into his ear. Isaac's eyes snapped open, revealing them to be bloodshot and maddened. The teen leapt into a standing position, growling.

"Why the FUCK are you waking me up? HAVEN'T I DONE ENOUGH?" Isaac screamed furiously, causing poor Ivan, who had woken him, to cower against the edge of the tent.

"Isaac? Are you alright?" Ivan asked timidly, backing away. Isaac realized that he was back in Kolima Forest and relaxed. He wouldn't have to work anymore, to his great happiness.

"Yes…yes I am Ivan! HEY RAMSES! FUCK YOU!" Isaac screamed at the sky. Ivan glanced at his friend like he had gone insane and left the tent.

"Garet, I think Isaac's gone crazy," Isaac heard Ivan say. The blonde laughed to himself and left the tent with a smile.

"Morning, Isaac. I'm making breakfast," Garet called to him over near the campfire. Sitting on either side of him on the grass were Laurel and Tret, who watched the redhead cooking with his psynergy with interest.

"Oh good. Ramses knows how hungry I am. He _really _does," Isaac commented. Garet gave him a confused look.

"I don't even know," Ivan whispered. Garet chuckled at that and stirred whatever was in the pot over the fire.

Isaac plopped down on his stomach and moaned pitifully. While he couldn't feel most of the exhaustion that he felt while working for Ramses, he did feel warmer than normal. Suddenly, going to Imil in the middle of winter didn't seem too bad.

"Isaac, you look pitiful. Seriously? Usually it's me that looks like that," Garet observed. Ivan gave him a set of wooden bowls, which the redhead took eagerly and began filling them with stew. Garet chuckled when the only response he got out of Isaac was a grunt.

"Seriously, are you all right? We need you for the journey," Ivan pressed worriedly, kneeling down by his friend's side. Isaac muttered something incoherently and turned over, gazing up at the sky. Ivan looked perturbed when he didn't get an answer.

"Let me see if I can help," Laurel suggested. She stood up and moved over to the overwhelmed teen, her form attracting Garet's gaze like a magnet. Ivan had to elbow the redhead roughly in order to prevent him from overflowing the bowl he was holding.

Isaac shut his eyes, nearly falling back to sleep. But then he felt someone approach. Then he heard Laurel's voice coming from above him.

"Isaac, your friends are worried," she whispered. Isaac woke up and promptly noticed that her breasts were in his face. His first reaction was to yell out in shock and back away from her, heat rushing to his face in an instant. "There! I knew that would work."

Garet and Ivan broke out in chuckles as Isaac tried to form words, but failed miserably.

"Perhaps you should tell us what's wrong then?" Laurel cajoled, keeping her voice smooth as silk. Isaac shuddered and cleared his throat, the color returning to his face.

In order to prevent another episode, Isaac was forced to tell his friends about the task Ramses had assigned him. Ivan acted uppity and gloated about how his friend should have listened to him after Isaac finished telling his story, which only caused the teen to get annoyed. Garet just thought the whole thing was hilarious, laughing at his friend's expense throughout the whole story.

"I'm so sorry for you. To think that you had to go through so much hardship in exchange for saving Tret," Laurel cooed, wrapping her arms around Isaac's neck from behind and embracing him. Isaac quickly went red again, all too aware of her breasts pressing up against his back.

"Hey! I killed a dozen or so wooden monster things! Where's my sympathy?" Garet protested. Apparently he didn't like seeing Isaac get all the attention. Laurel released Isaac and switched her attentions to Garet, which was what he wanted.

Isaac's eye twitched, disturbed as he saw Laurel curl up in Garet's lap and snuggle up against him. The teen turned to Ivan, who was trying not to look.

"Somehow I thought a tree nymph would be more regal and less of a…what's the word…" Isaac mused to his friend, but stumbled as he tried to think up a way to describe her without sounding offensive.

"Lady of the night?" Ivan supplied helpfully. Isaac snapped his fingers, indicating that this was a suitable term. Then the two snickered amongst themselves as Garet put on a stupidly happy face.

"Ah Laurel, I see you've missed having visitors," Tret commented, though he didn't seem at all angry. Laurel rested her head on Garet's shoulder and peered at her brother with a smile.

"Garet, can we have our food now?" Ivan finally said, annoyed. Garet let out a strange little gurgle, which was probably caused by his proximity to Laurel. However, Ivan ignored that fact and just ran with it. "I'll take that as a yes. Isaac, let's eat his share too."

"Agreed. Half and half?" Isaac concurred, a twinkle in his eye. He knew how much Garet liked food. Ivan grinned and nodded, reaching for the stew. Garet pathetically struggled by reaching a hand towards his bowl, but the presence of Laurel on his lap prevented him from moving.

When Isaac and Ivan reached for Garet's bowl, Laurel reached down and whisked it out of their reach, much to their chagrin. She held the bowl to her "captive's" lips so he could sip at the hot meal.

The remaining two Adepts turned their backs to the redhead and began sipping at their own meals, trying to ignore Garet's assorted noises from behind them.

"This is awkward…I hope to Ram…wait fuck no I'm not praying shit to that guy for a long time…I hope to Mother Gaia that they don't start doing it behind us," Isaac quipped, though his change of deity caused Ivan to chuckle.

A vein began to twitch in Ivan's forehead as they began hearing kissing noises from behind him. Garet had made it no secret that he fancied the tree nymph, and it seemed that his dreams were about to come true.

"For the love of Jupiter, get a room already!" Ivan shrieked back at the couple irritably. Garet and Laurel gazed back at the irate teen, blinking in surprise.

"I concur," Isaac added lazily, raising his canteen for a second before taking a sip.

* * *

Breakfast ended soon, after Isaac and Ivan had taken a rather long walk to avoid the campsite while Garet had his fun. When they finally returned to the campsite, Tret was back up in his tree, sitting on a high branch in order to look out over his dying forest.

"Isaac, where's Garet?" Ivan asked suddenly, looking around. Isaac searched the clearing for them, but there was no sign of his friend and his tree nymph companion. Isaac shrugged.

"Oh Jupiter, I'm scared to look," Ivan muttered, but nonetheless he peered into Garet's tent. Fortunately for him, there was no sign that the tent had been disturbed recently.

"Garet! Get your lazy ass over here so we can get ready to go!" Isaac shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify the sound. Tret noticed their presence then, and the old man lowered himself down to the ground.

"Hroom…your friend went with Laurel inside her tree. They should be out shortly," Tret informed them. Isaac nodded in confirmation.

"In that case, come on Ivan. Let's get started with the packing," he ordered. His friend wordlessly went over to his tent and began taking it down. Isaac put out the campfire and began getting everything ready to go.

Although Isaac disliked pitching and taking down the tent every night, repetition of this annoying task was beginning to become part of his routine. It didn't stop being a nuisance, but it was getting easier and quicker to complete it each night.

It was starting to worry him how normal everything was beginning to seem to him. He didn't think that the journey would have taken them this long already. When he first left Vale, his expectation was that he'd catch up to Saturos and Menardi on the road, fight them there, and claim victory for his group.

Now, fighting mutated monsters on the roads and sleeping out in the open was just a daily occurrence now, not worthy of note. Isaac shook his head and scoffed, wondering how his life could have changed so quickly.

Garet finally showed himself halfway through the packing process, accompanied by Laurel. Laurel looked the same as ever, but Garet's face was flushed and he was slightly out of breath. Isaac didn't want to hazard a guess as to why that was. Well, they could have been racing through the tree or he could have been practicing psynergy, but Isaac didn't find that likely.

"Garet! Good, come pack up your stuff," Ivan called. Garet nodded breathlessly and moved towards his area of the camp. Isaac had the sudden thought to ask Ivan to read Garet's mind to find out what they were really doing in that tree, but decided not to. Some things were just better left unknown.

"So how long do you think it will take us to reach Imil?" Garet asked, after he had finally gained enough stamina to speak. Isaac counted up the days in his mind, trying to give his friend a good answer.

"Well, it took us two days to get here from Bilibin, and if we retrace our steps exactly, it will take another two days to get back to Bilibin. Then," Isaac began, taking out the map. He traced his finger along the path they would take. He was grateful to Verne for filling out the map as he had. He only filled in two settlements (Imil and Kolima) but it was all they needed for now. "Hm. If we were to travel at a fast pace and force march through half of the night, then we'd probably reach Imil in a week, give or take a few days."

"Nuh-uh. I don't think I'd be able to fight on less than five hours of sleep," Garet told Isaac ruefully. Isaac nodded, having expected that. What he was giving them was an estimate, assuming they could keep up that sort of pace.

"I agree with Garet. Fighting Saturos and Menardi takes priority, but we can't exactly fight them if we've gone without sleep for too long," Ivan concurred, actually taking Garet's side for once. Isaac was forced to agree with their reasoning.

"In that case, I'd say two weeks. Perhaps more if we stop in Bilibin on the way back." Isaac estimated. He watched his friends mull that over for a few seconds.

"Do we absolutely have to stop in Bilibin?" Ivan asked tentatively, earning a surprised look from Isaac. It wasn't that they had been mistreated in Bilibin. They did get a military salute after all, so he couldn't discern what the deal was.

"What's this all about, Ivan?" Garet asked, giving voice to Isaac's thoughts. Ivan wrung his hands together nervously, looking around.

"Well, I don't think we can afford to give our quarry any more time than we have. That, and…I don't think I'd be comfortable showing my face in Bilibin just yet," Ivan confessed. Isaac blinked, not knowing why the teen would be afraid of Bilibin.

"What do you mean by that?" Isaac interrogated.

"Well, you see, the entire military placed their hopes on us. If we show back up and that guy at the entrance is still a tree, then they'd think we failed," Ivan explained. His point finally dawned on Isaac. Captain Jacellius might not be so accommodating if they showed back up in Bilibin asking for more supplies when they hadn't even lifted the curse.

"You've got a point…" Garet admitted. "And I'd be tempted to kill Lady McCoy just for putting us in this situation in the first place."

"I think we could bypass Bilibin completely if we took some of the fruit from this forest," Isaac guessed. Laurel and Tret took that moment to enter the conversation.

"There's not that much fruit left since I was wounded…" Tret confessed, his expression grave.

"…but you can take what little fruit we do have. It's all yours," Laurel finished the old man's sentence.

"Thanks. Then that's all we need. Let's finished packing up and get moving. We've got no time to waste." Isaac finished.

* * *

The group said their farewells to Tret and Laurel and backtracked through the forest, which was significantly less hostile since Tret was pacified.

After leaving the forest, they headed due south, hoping to reach the Bilibin Barricade before night fell. The weather was miserable that day, a freezing wind cutting through their clothing like knives and chilling their skin. Isaac really did not like winter. The realization that it was only going to be worse in Imil did not help any.

The group stopped at the river to refill their canteens once it swerved inland, causing the road to swerve around it. The water was of course, below freezing, and the shallow water on the edges of the river was now slush, a mixture of ice and water.

When they set off again, the river swerved to the west behind them, leaving them without a source of water for a short period of time. That didn't matter, since they knew the river would just go west for a short time and then take a sharp u-turn, which the bridge they had crossed earlier was spanning.

When they reached the bridge, clouds were starting to roll in from the north. Isaac knew that this meant it was probably going to snow, since Imil lay in the north.

As the sun began to dip below the horizon, the barricade came into sight, the ramshackle structure proving a welcome sight.

* * *

"Do you think those guards will give us trouble?" Garet said to Ivan, referring to their conversation back in the forest. Ivan took a moment to think about this.

"Unfortunately, I believe they will. They are going to wonder why none of the trees returned to humans," Ivan admitted. Isaac sighed in annoyance. He wasn't looking forward to answering suspicious questions, since they tended to irritate him.

"Great," Garet scoffed, obviously sharing Isaac's feelings.

The three picked their way through the human trees on the Kolima side of the barricade, making enough noise for the guards to hear them. Isaac heard a clamor from the other side, and the door opened to reveal the two guards. They did not look happy.

"You're back," the first guard observed, though he didn't sound like he was happy to see them. Isaac halfheartedly raised a hand in greeting, which wasn't returned.

"Weren't you supposed to be fixing this?" the other snapped. Isaac growled quietly, though they couldn't hear him. They didn't sound very grateful to them for even trying, but he couldn't necessarily blame them.

"Hey, just calm down here so we can explain," Garet cajoled, though it was apparently the wrong thing to say. The first guard narrowed his eyes and walked right up to Garet.

"Calm down? You want me to calm down?" The guard growled, and he roughly prodded Garet with his gauntleted hand. The guard stormed over to the nearest transformed human to the barricade.

"Hey, Ryven…" the other guard said nervously, trying to ease the situation a little. Ryven ignored him and thrust a finger at the tree.

"You see this tree? Her name is Mary Jura, a happily married woman with two children. She is my wife!" Ryven revealed, his voice rising. Isaac, Garet, and Ivan just watched in shocked silence as the man continued. "She never wanted to go to Kolima in the first place, and yet here she is, not even able to come back to her children."

"Ryven…we…" Ivan spoke up timidly, trying to explain himself. Ryven impatiently cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"We let you past here because we thought you could save us. So why are you running away!" he shouted at the three, his face turning red with anger. Isaac finally got sick of listening to his unjustified rant and stepped up.

"I can't let that once slide. Guard or not, no one calls me a coward," Isaac shot right back at the enraged guard. Ryven stepped up to Isaac.

"Then get back out there, and end this curse!" the guard demanded, pointing back in the general direction of Kolima. "You see these trees? They are dying. Soon, everyone here will be dead, as well as transformed!"

"Agh! How can you be so ignorant?" Isaac snapped. "That's what we're trying to prevent! You don't understand what kind of crap we've gone through to get as far as we have!"

"What are you even talking about?" Ryven counters. Isaac decides that now is the best time to relate their story to the guards.

Isaac, Garet, and Ivan take turns telling their tale, starting from their entry to Kolima all the way to their saving of Tret from his anger. Ryven and his comrade listened at first with disgust, but their expressions soon changed when they revealed the reason for their return.

"I see, you need to reach Imil so Tret can save everyone…" Ryven repeated, coming to the realization that he was wrong to doubt the group's intentions.

"Do you understand now?" Isaac demanded. Ryven paused, and then nodded apologetically.

"Ryven, if their story is true, then should we really be hindering them?" the other guard asked timidly from behind his volatile partner. Ryven shook his head slowly, and moved to clear their path through the barricade.

"You can go. However, if I don't see you coming back through this barricade in a month's time, I'm going to hunt you down myself for the deaths of my friends and family," Ryven warned. Isaac nodded, and led his group through the barricade, an awkward silence following them.

When they were out of earshot of the guards, Garet let out an exasperated sigh.

"That guy needs to chill out. I mean, seriously," he remarked, glancing over his shoulder at the guards, who were staring at them as they left.

"No kidding. I agree with Ivan. We are not stopping in Bilibin on the way back," Isaac concurred.

"You know, you can't really blame him. He has to look at his transformed wife and watch her slowly die day by day," Ivan spoke up in defense of the guard.

"True, but blaming the whole thing on us is a little extreme," Isaac argued. Ivan and Garet sounded their agreement before the group lapsed into the silence that usually was present whenever they traveled.

* * *

They didn't get much further before the late hour forced the group to set up camp for the night.

"Those clouds look bad. I think it's going to snow," Ivan observed, gazing up at the night sky. Isaac looked up as well, noticing that he couldn't see any stars. It was true. The clouds had completely overtaken them, and a chill wind was sweeping through the area.

"You're right. Hopefully it will just be flurries and nothing serious," Isaac affirmed. The last thing they needed was to be buried in snow.

"Not taking first watch," Garet piped up abruptly, already setting up his tent for the night. Ivan and Isaac both looked at him in exasperation.

"Seriously?" Isaac asked, though it was mostly rhetorical in nature.

"I took first last time, Isaac. If Garet is being annoying, I guess it's your turn," Ivan reminded the blonde apologetically. Isaac sighed, but dealt with it. He preferred last watch.

"Fine. Oi Garet!" the teen called, getting the redhead's attention. "Make me a fire before you head to sleep. If it does snow, I'm going to need all the warmth I can get."

"Easy enough. Just let me finish setting up my tent and I'll get right on it," Garet acknowledged, fiddling with the fabric of his tent. Isaac sent him a thankful smile before starting to set up his tent as well.

Isaac suddenly stopped moving and raised an eyebrow as he heard a yawn out of nowhere. He looked at Garet and Ivan, but none of them were yawning. That only left…

"_All right, I'm up. Fine night, isn't it?" _Flint chimed in, still groggy from his sleep. Isaac chuckled and continued his work.

"What's so funny, Isaac?" Ivan asked curiously as he worked on his own sleeping area."

"Djinn in my head," Isaac responded tersely. Ivan just shook his head in disbelief.

"I'm almost a bit jealous that you have someone to talk to during your watch. Mine just chirp," he admitted. Garet decided to join the conversation at that moment.

"Oh yeah, you never did tell us what its name was," he joined. Ivan pondered for a minute before responding.

"It appears that her name is Breeze. I don't know what she does yet though," the blonde responded. Isaac quickly did a tally in his head.

"So that gives us five Djinn in total. That makes our power rather substantial, though I doubt I'll be summoning any time soon," he affirmed, earning chuckles from his friends.

"That makes me curious. Isaac, can you ask your Djinni what I could possibly summon now that I have two Djinn?" Ivan queried, finally finishing with his tent. While waiting for a reply, he slithered inside of his tent and lay down on his stomach, gazing out at Isaac.

"_You don't need to ask me. I heard it," _Flint entered smugly. Isaac waited patiently for him to continue. "_Hm, I don't think Thor would care about the elemental energy of two Djinni. He's way to busy for anything like that. Maybe…yeah. Tell your friend that he could possibly summon Atalanta. She's a warrior huntress renowned for her speed and skill with a bow. Though she does like target practice…"_

"Uh…Flint says you can summon Atalanta. She apparently likes target practice…" Isaac related to Ivan, who metaphorically sweat-dropped.

"Likes…target practice…" Ivan repeated, gulping. "I don't think I'll be summoning her if I can help it."

"So if you can summon Venus, and Ivan can summon Jupiter, I guess that means I can summon Mars! Oh I can't WAIT to see what he can do!" Garet mused, half to himself and half to Isaac.

"Besides take your psynergy?" Isaac asked helpfully. Garet gave him a hurt look.

"Don't be a buzzkill, Isaac," he admonished. Isaac just chuckled.

* * *

When everyone was finished with their tents, everyone began preparing for rest. Garet, as Isaac had asked, created a sizable bonfire, lighting up the clearing and helping keep everyone warm. Everyone also ate a single piece of fruit from Isaac's bag to tide them over until the morning. Ivan practically dropped dead on his pillow afterwards, being tired from their travels.

"I'm heading to sleep, Isaac," Garet informed him as he slid into his tent. Isaac acknowledged him with a nod and went to sit near the bonfire. Now he had to find some way to entertain himself until it was Garet's turn to watch.

"Flint, can you keep quiet for a bit? I want to practice my psynergy," Isaac asked irritably, for the said Djinni was currently tussling with his room (mind?) mate, Granite.

"_Tell Granite to stay the hell out of my room! He always steals my books!" _Flint complained. Isaac blinked, not understanding what he just heard.

"You have books? How do you have books in my mind?" he asked, slightly disturbed.

"_Alchemy can do EVERYTHING!" _Flint whispered to him in a rather comical manner. Isaac facepalmed hard.

"Whatever. Now shut up," he reiterated. Then, the blonde crossed his legs and removed the Catch Beads from his bag. He had already mastered summoning the hand from the beads to his objective, but now he wanted to learn to grab objectives from farther distances away, and maybe even to grab without even needing the beads.

Isaac took a rock from the bag and threw it into the darkness. He could still see it thanks to the fire, but it was a long way from him. Then he closed his eyes and reached out his mind.

He could feel the power of the Catch Beads resting on his lap, and since this wasn't his first time, it was easier to reach into that power and draw it forth. His eyes snapped open and his hand shot forward, releasing psynergy.

The white hand materialized and zoomed forward, heading for the rock that he had thrown. However, it jerked to a stop just short of the rock. Isaac cursed and tried to push forward, but it only moved another inch before the effort began to strain his mind, draining more psynergy than usual from him.

"No good. This power is useless if it can't reach my target," Isaac muttered, letting the hand disappear.

"_Why don't you try focusing your psynergy before using Catch?" _Flint spoke up abruptly, surprising Isaac. "_That way, you get more power while using less psynergy. Maybe it will help you reach farther."_

"How would I do that?" Isaac asked, intrigued.

"_It really depends on the user. I imagine a frog getting smaller," _the Djinn related. Isaac made a face. He didn't understand that at all.

"Uh, thanks. I guess." Isaac muttered, wondering why Flint had even spoken up. "Guess I'd better try again."

Isaac spent the majority of his watch training with the Catch Beads. He was determined the reach the rock, but no matter how hard he tried, he only improved his reach by less than an inch. Even gaining that small amount had used up all of his psynergy, forcing him to quit for now.

He growled in dissatisfaction, retrieving the rock and returning to the fire. Now he was in a bad mood. What more could possibly go wrong?

Almost immediately after Isaac thought that, the first flake of snow fell on his cheek. Isaac groaned in frustration and scooted closer to the fire.

The snow intensified, forming a white sheet that blanketed their campsite. The fire flickered and sputtered as snowflakes impacted with it, melting instantly into water and evaporating.

The temperature dropped even more intensely. Isaac was only wearing armor, so he was shivering hard despite his proximity to the fire. He became thirsty all of a sudden, so he retrieved his canteen. As he prepared to take a drink, his lips dried out and began bothering him. He wanted to scream, but didn't want to wake his friends. So he drank a little instead.

"I hate the cold. I hate it," Isaac complained. "Isn't my watch over yet?"

Isaac's watch wasn't over until an hour later. Each minute was filled with extreme cold, making it seem like much longer. By the time it ended, he felt like a human icicle. He moved towards Garet's tent, opening the flap. Isaac nudged the sleeping teen roughly.

"Garet, it's your turn," he alerted him. Garet just rolled over, muttering some girl's name that Isaac had never heard before. Isaac rolled his eyes and jabbed his friend in the gut with his fingers.

"No one takes my gate! It's too nosy...huh? Isaac?" Garet spouted senselessly. Isaac just gave him the most incredulous look he could muster.

"What…the fuck?" Isaac asked softly, though he wasn't sure that he really wanted to know. Garet stared back, equally confused.

"What?" he inquired, now fully awake. The blonde sighed and shook his head.

"Just get outside," Isaac ordered, and then he thrust his thumb towards the tent exit. Garet nodded and the two walked out of his tent.

"Holy shit it's cold!" Garet instantly began complaining the second he walked outside. Isaac chuckled evilly. Now it was Garet's turn to freeze to death.

Then Isaac noticed the snowflakes melting and evaporating instantly in a small radius around Garet's form. The redhead was now grinning, sitting by his own fire.

"That is so not fair," Isaac muttered under his breath as he crawled into his tent for the night.

* * *

Ivan waked Isaac up the next morning. To his surprise and annoyance, the camp was partially buried by the still falling snow. It took a little digging and a lot of physical work to extricate the tents and supplies from the snow, but it wasn't long before they were all ready to continue.

Isaac hoped to get to the outskirts of Bilibin by nightfall, where they would pitch their second camp. Due to the incident at the barricade, they would be sleeping outside near the river, rather than in the village.

With this in mind, the group trudged through the snow, heading northwest along the river. The thick snow on the ground slowed them down significantly, much to their annoyance.

Garet was a real asset in this venture, since his affinity with fire allowed him to melt the majority of the snow in front of them into slush. While easier to travel through, the ice-cold water seeped into their boots and chilled their toes.

When the mountain range to their south curved away to the west, the group detoured through the forest in order to make their passage easier. The thick canopy of pine prevented the majority of the snow from reaching the ground. The undergrowth and the occasional monster replaced the lack of snow on the ground.

When the group reached the edge of the forest, the sun was already setting. On the bright side, the snow had eased up, the clouds moving farther south. Bilibin was finally in sight, but that posed a problem for them.

Isaac didn't really want to get seen by them, so he directed the group due east for an hour until they hit the river. They followed it until they were just east of Bilibin, out of sight over a ridge. Due to their detours, night had fallen and they were forced to make camp by the river.

The next morning the group cut northwest just north of Bilibin, staying out of sight. Cutting between the Goma Range and a nearby forest, the path curved to the east. At the tip of this curve, monsters ambushed the group. However, as they were nothing more than feral rats and zombies, which they had dealt with before, they dispatched them easily and continued moving forward.

The river curved from the west to block their path forward, but Ivan was certain that there would be a bridge nearby, so they pushed ahead. Sure enough, there was a bridge spanning the river just an hour ahead. It was clearly of Bilibin origin, but it was completely abandoned. This was odd, but it didn't concern them. Isaac directed the group across the bridge and set up camp on the opposite side, as the sun was falling too low to travel further.

It was the fourth day after their departure from Kolima forest. Isaac roused Garet and Ivan and set them on the path to Imil once more. Refilling their canteens at the river, the group moved forward. Massive mountains tipped with snow barred any further passage north. Ivan identified them as the Imil Mountains, one of the tallest mountain ranges in Angara.

Blocked by the mountains, the group veered west, looking for a way to pass the range. Imil was on the other side, according to Ivan, who was now their guide, for they were in unfamiliar territory.

A forest cropped up to the south, bordering the road and enclosing them in. The dropping temperature forced many of the usual monsters, such as the feral rats, to take shelter in their dens in order to remain warm. The zombies, however, knew no such limitations. They assaulted the group frequently, uncaring about their frostbitten skin.

Snow filled clouds loomed from over the mountains, soon covering the sun and plunging the group into shadowy gloom. Frigid snow fell soon afterwards, forcing the group to take shelter in the foothills of the nearest mountain. This time, the group was lucky enough to find a rocky overhang, supported by the roots of a tree above them. The group set up camp for the night there.

Garet kept them warm with a large fire, which also prevented the snow from building up too close to them. Isaac was thankful for that, for it guaranteed less work in the morning.

On the fifth day, the snow showed no signs of abating. Garet again took point and melted a way through the snow.

Soon after the group set off, the river appeared from the south and swept in front of them, blocking their path. Fortunately, there was another bridge that allowed them passage. Like the other one, this bridge was abandoned as well. It was clearly in disrepair, but it held long enough for the group to pass forward.

A pine forest stood just west of the bridge, which was a welcome sight to the group. Like they had earlier, the group cut through the forest in order to make traveling easier. In fact, Isaac was sure that this path would allow them to shave some time off of the journey as a whole. However, a sizable monster encounter in the forest prevented that from occurring.

The group made camp at the edge of the forest just as the snow dissipated. They were now sandwiched between the Goma Range to the south, and the Imil Mountains to the north, leaving north as their only path forward now. Isaac just hoped that there would be a way through.

The next day, the group drew ever closer to the Imil Mountains. Ivan assured them that this was the only possible course they could have taken, and that this was certain not to be a dead end.

This was eventually proven, as a jagged hole high up in the foothills of a particularly large mountain could be seen.

* * *

"Is that what I think it is?" Garet asked, rather pointlessly, as he stared at the hole in the side of the cliffs. Isaac looked at the cave and smiled. His way through the mountains had just been discovered for him.

"That looks to be our way through these confounded mountains," Ivan answered. Isaac had to agree with his description of these mountains.

"Yeah, we probably would have been at Imil by now if we hadn't been forced to detour around these mountains," Isaac added. Ivan nodded in agreement.

"Come on! It will probably be warmer in there," Garet urged them. Isaac chuckled. He could always warm himself like he had been doing for half of the trip, but during the monster trouble in the forest, he had been caught without psynergy thanks to his warming. Therefore, he had braved the cold afterwards. Isaac was happy to know that he wasn't a lost cause after all.

A few snowy pines bordered the path that led to the cave. The three walked steadily past them, watching the pines intently for monsters.

"I don't like forests," Garet remarked. "Warmer and easier to travel through, but monster hell."

"I don't like Garet," Isaac joked. "Fun and easy to travel with, but complains like hell."

"Hey! Come here you," Garet exclaimed indignantly, chasing Isaac across the path. Ivan sighed and followed them.

When the three composed themselves, they were standing before the same river that they had kept running into during their journey. Isaac was certain that they were nearing it's source.

"This isn't the first time we've run into a river. Only problem is, there's no bridge or stepping stone," Ivan observed, leaning over the edge and peering into the water.

"Well of course there are no stepping stones. This isn't Sol Sanctum after all," Garet joked. Isaac chuckled at that, but Ivan just looked clueless.

"All kidding aside, we need to find a way to cross this," Isaac finally decided. "Do you think we could use a tree to cross?"

"Hell no, are you kidding me? I'm never cutting down another tree in my life!" Garet protested, obviously referring to the whole fiasco with Tret.

"He's got a point. I don't think Ramses will be willing to save us a second time," Ivan added. Isaac sighed and began walking around the clearing, searching for something to help them cross.

"Ivan, check the depth and current of that river and see if we can cross it. Garet, check the cliff walls to see if we can climb anywhere. I'll check further down for anything useful," Isaac ordered. Once he received confirmatory nods from his friends, Isaac headed back down the path where they came from.

No matter how hard he tried, Isaac couldn't get closer to the river. The pine trees that lined the path blocked his progress. Even if he tried to squeeze through, some wicked looking thorns promised to relieve him of his blood.

Further down, Isaac found a gap in the trees. With a grin on his face, he walked down that direction and found himself close to the river.

"Now, is there anything I can use," Isaac mused aloud. He edged as close to the water as he could, but saw nothing but the cliff face on the opposite bank. He growled quietly to himself. This was pointless. He wasn't going to magically find a bridge there.

He turned around, annoyed. As he began retracing his steps, Isaac heard a quiet splash from the river. He whirled around instantly, alert. After countless monster attacks, he took no sound for granted.

At first he saw nothing, but then his trained eyes noticed movement. Something had emerged from the water and was clinging to the bank. Isaac narrowed his eyes, his hand moving to his axe. With his other hand, he grabbed his shield, ready to defend himself.

A hand devoid of any kind of skin was clinging to the bank. The bones were bleached an ivory white, which was odd considering that the other undead that Isaac had faced had always shown some kind of rotting skin.

Another bony hand thrust itself out of the water and latched onto the bank. As Isaac watched, whatever creature was in the river began hoisting itself out of the water.

When the blonde saw the creature's head, his eyes went wide. It was a typical skull, but Isaac could tell that it wasn't human, despite how it looked. He could see four fangs in its jaw: two longer ones from the top, and two shorter ones fitting just underneath the longer two from the bottom. Each of its other teeth was filed to lethal points. Instead of empty eye sockets, there were two glowing purple orbs gazing directly at Isaac.

"Good. I need to kill something," Isaac grunted irritably, grabbing his axe and shield and standing in a ready stance. It was probably just another typical undead, slow and predictable.

Once the creature had finished analyzing Isaac, it let out a feral roar and shot out of the river like a rocket, completely taking Isaac by surprise.

It zoomed at Isaac at an incredible speed, barely giving Isaac enough time to prepare before it was unleashing a blinding series of attacks from its clawed fingertips.

Isaac let out a yelp and was forced back under its onslaught, somehow managing to parry each attack with his shield and axe. He planted his foot and slammed his shield forward the instant he got a chance. Instead of taking the creature by surprise, it grabbed the shield with its right hand, and wasn't forced back in the slightest.

"What the…" Isaac began, but wasn't able to swing his axe before the creature slammed its left fist directly into the teen's chest. Pain erupted in his chest like wildfire, and the force behind the punch was strong enough to send him back through the path and into a tree on the far side.

Isaac let out a pained cry, his back colliding with the tree. He hit the ground in pain, holding his ribs. The creature didn't stop there. The second it saw Isaac down, it charged towards him once more, a wicked black sword forming in its right hand from nowhere.

The teen weakly brought his shield up to block and tried to contact Granite in time to protect himself. However, the creature was much too fast. By the time Granite awoke in his mind, the creature was already bringing its sword down on him.

"I don't think so!" yelled an angry voice from Isaac's left. The creature turned its head to see Garet flying through the air towards it, enveloped in an intense aura of flame.

The undead brought its sword to bear, ready to block. Garet's fiery fist slammed directly into the flat of the creature's blade, shattering it into pieces and planting into its grinning skill.

The monster was sent skidding backwards, though it didn't lose its balance. Garet unsheathed his axe, the flaming aura extending to his weapon. Isaac glanced at his own axe, which was on fire as well. Garet must have used Forge to strengthen himself.

"Isaac, are you all right?" Garet asked in concern, never taking his eyes off of the monster for a second. The teen in question groaned and hoisted himself to his feet, readying himself once more.

"Yeah. I underestimated it. It's much stronger than you'd think for an undead," he warned the redhead. The monster regarded the situation warily, guttural growls emanating from its maw occasionally.

"I noticed, since my punch only broke its sword and not its face," Garet commented wryly.

The monster let out another roar and formed a long black spear in its hand instead of a sword, and went on the offensive once more. The speed at which it could send thrusts towards the duo forced them on the defensive, blocking each thrust with shields and weapons.

"This thing can form weapons? What is this thing?" Garet demanded, ducking underneath a thrust and swinging his axe upwards. The monster saw it coming and leapt backwards, giving the group time to launch a counter offensive.

"Flint," Isaac grunted, his grip tightening on his weapon. He could feel the Djinni waking in his mind even as he said his name.

"_I'm up. Let's kick its ass, Isaac!" _the Djinni remarked, and Isaac's weapon converted into elemental energy once more. Combined with the flame from Garet's Forge, this next attack would carry one hell of a punch.

"Let's go!" Isaac roared, and then he and Garet charged at the monster, weapons held high. Once the creature saw them coming, it planted its feet on the ground and charged at them as well. However, it did not expect Isaac's Djinni.

Isaac yelled in triumph as his axe cleaved right through the monster's spear and cut through its rib cage. However, the monster did not stop. Its spear reformed and it began wielding it like a quarterstaff, fending off both Garet and Isaac's next attacks.

"Fucking die!" Garet yelled in frustration, and he unleashed a blast of fire strong enough to make Isaac back off. The flame engulfed the monster completely, and the heat was intense enough to melt all of the snow around them as well as set the grass underneath on fire in a blazing inferno.

"That was a bit overkill, I think," Isaac commented, though he didn't relax at all. Garet turned around and began walking away with a triumphant grin on his face.

"Overkill is good. It means I'm awesome enough to pull it off. Now come here. I want to show you something," the redhead bragged.

"Garet…" Isaac spoke up with a worried tone. The redhead turned around and his jaw dropped.

The monster's glowing purple eyes could be seen from within the inferno. As the two incredulous teens watched, it emerged from the flame, its bones charred completely black. Despite that, it didn't look close to being dead.

"The hell? I hit that bastard with everything I had!" Garet shouted at it, as if that in and of itself could kill it. The monster roared loudly, apparently infuriated now.

"I don't think it worked," Isaac pointed out helpfully. "Wait, what is it doing?"

The monster began shaking its rib bones strangely, creating an eerie rattling noise that echoed through the area. Then, with a malevolent hissing, the creature opened its jaws and from within its maw came a shadowy vapor.

"That doesn't look good," Garet commented. The monster spewed out more and more vapor, which floated towards them at a high speed. Everything, including the trees, rotted and died in its wake, turning to a fine dust.

Isaac turned to run, but he knew that there was no way they could dodge it in time. Expletives began running through his mind as he tried to move, but to his horror, the vapor soon engulfed them both.

However he felt no pain, only a slight tickling. Isaac opened his eyes and blinked uncertainly. He turned around and saw that the vapor had indeed hit them, but it had apparently done nothing.

Isaac looked at Garet, to see him looking around with a confused look. However, what was the most interesting was the purple aura that surrounded him. Isaac looked at himself and realized that he was glowing purple as well. If he remembered correctly, purple corresponded to the Jupiter element. If that was the case, then that meant…

"You'll have to do better than that, monster," Ivan declared confidently, stepping in front of his two friends. "Breeze can block anything you throw at us."

The monster saw that its attack had been thwarted and hissed angrily. It charged at Ivan, but the Jupiter Adept was already attacking. Bolts of bluish lightning shot out of his staff and lanced towards the monster.

The monster formed a black shield it its other hand and blocked the bolt. Isaac thought that they were outmatched, until to his surprise, a crack appeared in the shield.

Ivan roared in exertion as he sent his free hand towards the monster, lightning erupting from that hand as well. When both bolts of lightning struck the shield, it shattered and the monster was completely engulfed in lightning.

Unlike Garet's fire, Ivan's lightning seemed to be doing ten times as much damage. The second the monster was engulfed, its ribs cracked and broke, causing the monster to roar in pain and try to escape. Ivan didn't give it a chance. The teen kept up the assault until the monster's skull cracked and shattered into pieces and its body hit the ground. It didn't move again.

"So I was right!" Ivan announced, stopping his attack and smiling brightly. Garet and Isaac just gave him completely dumbfounded looks. "What?"

"Is it just me, or did you just become _amazing?" _Garet remarked, still shocked at the scene he just witnessed. Ivan laughed modestly and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, seriously. We hit that guy with everything we had and barely hurt it. How did you just annihilate it like that?" Isaac demanded, sheathing his axe.

"Simple really. During our time traveling, I found out what Breeze did through trial and error during my night watches. Listen to this, she could block practically any psynergy attack I sent at her. So I realized that she must be able to increase our resistance to attacks similar to psynergy," Ivan explained.

"That's really useful. I have Granite to block physical attacks, Garet has Forge to increase our attack power, and you have Breeze to block psynergy attacks. We are practically invincible if we use all three at once," Isaac deduced. Ivan nodded happily, though he was eager to continue his explanation.

"So by the time I got here, that breath attack was coming at you. It wasn't physical, so I took a gamble and used Breeze to protect you. Then I understood why you guys weren't doing much damage," Ivan continued.

"Pray tell," Garet grumbled, not amused.

"Fire and Water are opposing elements, able to deal significant damage to the other if used properly. So I gathered that Mars and Mercury must act the same way. With that in mind, I realized that Earth and Wind must act the same way."

"How do you figure that?" Isaac exclaimed. Fire and Water made sense. Earth and Wind? What the hell?

"Undead, if I were to go off of previous experience, are Earth-based. That's why none of your attacks were doing much damage. Since it was Earth-based, I gathered that my strongest attacks would do the most damage. That's why I annihilated it and saved you," Ivan finished. Isaac and Garet just stared at him with a new respect.

"Ivan, you can be my new advisor," Isaac finally said, unable to think of much else to say. Ivan laughed again, while Garet just looked offended.

"What about me?" Garet asked, offended at being ignored. Isaac didn't even look at him.

"No."

"Hey!" The group laughed collectively and returned to the task at hand, which was discovering a way to cross the river.

* * *

"So what I was going to come show you before we got sidetracked, was this," Garet explained, pointing to the cliffside nearest to their side of the river's edge. Isaac looked to see a sparse growth of thick vines that clung to the face of the rock. If it were taller, they could climb it, but right now it was useless.

"Garet, we can't climb this, it's too short!" Ivan pointed out. Garet grinned and clapped Isaac on the back, who winced, since his ribs still ached from that last hit.

"Isaac, can't you do something? You made the wood in Tret's tree grow, so can't you do the same for plants?" he asked, though the way he asked made it seem that he was already certain of the answer. Isaac glanced at the vines. He probably could if he tried. He just never thought of it before.

"I'm not that good at manipulating plants and things, but I'll give it a try," Isaac admitted. He looked at the vines and thrust out his palm, focusing his mind and summoning his psynergy.

"HAAA!" Isaac grunted, and unleashed his psynergy. The vines twitched and suddenly erupted upwards, rapidly growing and laying down tendrils that rooted themselves in the rock. Soon, it reached a ledge not far up the cliff face, which Garet was sure that they could traverse to reach the cave entrance.

"Good job, Isaac. Come on, let's go," Garet urged them. Isaac smiled. Plant manipulation was still not his best, but it was good to know that he could use it when it counted.

The group traversed the cliff face until they reached the ledge. It wasn't a very large ledge, so they were forced the shimmy along the side.

Garet had actually thought this through apparently, which was a real accomplishment for him. But as it turned out, this cliff face did not extend over the river. However, the ledge turned to the north and followed the river, which thinned at that point. That made it extremely easy for the group to hop to another ledge on the other side of the river.

Isaac noticed a strange look on Ivan's face and decided to ask about it.

"Ivan, what is it?" he asked worriedly. He was somewhat paranoid about meeting another one of those monsters.

"Nothing really. I'm just surprised Garet's idea worked so well," he answered, though it wasn't in a joking manner. Isaac turned his gaze back to the front.

"I know right?" he responded under his breath, earning a smile from Ivan.

"I heard that, you two!" Garet shouted back at them, causing them both to laugh out loud.

The group soon reached the end of the ledge. The cave entrance was just underneath them, but now their problem was getting down.

"Shouldn't be too hard. Look, there's a slight slant in the edge of his ledge. If we slide down that, we could possibly reach the next ledge down without having to use our psynergy," Isaac pointed out. Garet and Ivan agreed, and then the three slid down to the next ledge.

They were about to slide down again when Ivan stopped them both.

"Look. There's another entrance to the cave," Ivan pointed out. Isaac looked, and sure enough, there was another hidden hole hidden in the cliff face just around the corner of this ledge.

"That makes things easy. Let's go, Isaac!" Garet declared. Isaac sighed and led the group through the hole in the cliff and into the long dark of the Imil Mountain cave.

* * *

Okay I'm done. Finally. I finally managed to churn this monster of a chapter out. I lied though at the start. I said we were going to get to go to Imil this chapter. I forgot just how far away Imil was from Kolima, and I also completely forgot about the Bilibin Cave. I know the cave isn't that long, but I want to able to describe it completely. And there's also the Elven Rapier. I have to get around to describing unleashes somehow.

Before you ask, the monster they fought was a ghoul. I know they look nothing like that, but I didn't even look. I just saw the name of the monster on the gamefaq and decided, let's roll with that! Epic monster fight gooo! Ivan shows up and is just like "UNLIMITED…POOOOWAAAAAH!"

When Garet showed up, I totally wanted to make him say, "Iron fist of the Fire Dragon!" Or something like that. Idk, I take a lot of inspiration from Natsu to make his character. It just makes sense! By the way, did Laurel and Garet really have sex? Mm, I don't know. I left it up for interpretation on purpose. There would be no point in making a lemon there, since it wouldn't really affect the plot in any way. Therefore, think what you want, since it won't change anything either way.

Oh and did you like Ramses favor? Build my pyramid for me! Doesn't sound like much, but have you SEEN the blocks used to make those things? They are fucking HUGE! Not to mention they worked on them in the middle of the day. Hot as hell itself. Oh, and please don't hate me for making black people servants. I already said that I'm not racist; it's just historically accurate. According to my studies, the Egyptians used Nubian slaves in their construction, which were always dark skinned. I happen to have a black guy named Stephen as a lab partner, and I like him a lot. Oh, and another guy in that same class who is my best friend this semester is also black. Oh, and the girl I really like is Latina. I am the least racist guy you will ever meet.

Anyhow, now that I'm done with that, I can get started on the next chapter of Eternal Magic. Alternation for the win!

Keelah Se'lai,

The Proud Quarian,

Terran34


	14. Forward! The Final Battle Awaits!

I lied. I said I would be doing Eternal Magic, yet I came out with this one. Who knows? Maybe it's because I find it easier to write this story. Which makes sense. In this one, I have the story and characters laid out for me. I have to do practically everything myself in Eternal Magic. Hurts my tiny brain.

I also put up an image cover for this story. At least I think I did. That new option in fanfiction makes no sense to me yet. Anyhow, it's just a golden sun picture I found that looked cool. I kept running into Dark Dawn pictures for some reason.

Speaking of Dark Dawn, I've been getting many people who have been asking if I'm going to be novelizing that too. The answer is: I'm totally not sure yet. You see, I'm getting the feeling that popular opinion wants me to, but I happen not to like that game as much as I do the first two. So on one hand, people want me to, and on the other, I don't like the game that much. (Too easy, the characters aren't as memorable, and they spend way too much time talking about things that we can easily figure out ourselves.) I'm not saying it's a bad game. I'm just saying the first two were better. Maybe I'll set up a poll.

So. I am DETERMINED to make to Imil this chapter. Though I am going to be spending a decent amount of time on this cave.

Disclaimer: Golden Sun, Golden Sun the Lost Age, and Terran34's soul are the property of Nintendo, Camelot, and any other contributor that I may have missed.

* * *

Darkness filled the cavern, the only source of light being the descending rays of the sun filtering in through the entrance. Even that faded to nothing as Isaac, Garet, and Ivan plunged into the blackness. The sound of dripping water echoed throughout the cave, adding an eerie tone to the icy cold cave.

Despite Garet's hopes, it was not warmer in the cave. In fact, the lack of sunlight shining down on them had much more of an impact than any of them expected. It was actually colder in the cave than outside.

"Garet, we need a light," Isaac ordered, because he could no longer see where he was walking.

"You got it," the redhead responded. There was a hissing snap, and then a flickering orange light lit up the cave. Isaac took this moment to absorb his surroundings.

The rock walls were a greenish grey color, a combination that looked particularly disgusting to him. They were also coated in a thin sheet of ice, suggesting that there was a source of water somewhere inside of this cave.

The group was standing on a wide ledge that covered the entirety of the eastern wall. It offered them a view of the lower passageway as well, which was probably where they would have been walking should they have taken the lower entrance.

"Boy, am I glad you spotted this entrance, Ivan. It's easier to see more of the cave from here," Garet commented, leaning over the edge with his light.

"See anything worth checking out?" Ivan asked curiously, without looking. He was standing beside Isaac, staring ahead along the ledge for potential dangers.

"Not really. It just trails off into darkness. No sign of any monsters," Garet responded, returning to Isaac's side.

"All right, let's move. Keep your eyes open and move slowly," Isaac commanded. He waited until he heard sounds of acknowledgement from his friends before continuing forward.

The group traversed the ledge slowly and carefully, as per their usual routine when traveling through a confined area. They never knew when they could be surrounded by a particularly cunning set of monsters.

Their first signs of anything suspicious came when reaching the end of the ledge.

Isaac turned his head behind him as he heard Ivan yelp and fall. Garet turned as well, wondering what could have tripped the younger teen up.

"You okay, Ivan? Usually it's me that does that," Garet teased, extending a hand to the fallen teen. Ivan chuckled and took it, rising to his feet in a matter of seconds.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Shine your light over there, will you? I want to see what tripped me up," he requested. Garet, now curious, did as he was told. Isaac blinked and turned around as he heard a cry of shock from the redhead.

"What is it?" Isaac asked, but as he saw it, he no longer needed an answer. Lying on the ground nearby was the dead body of a middle-aged man that had yet to decompose.

"What do you think, Isaac? He looks freshly dead to me," Garet conjectured, leaning down next to the unfortunate adventurer. Isaac did the same, inspecting the body for clues to its demise.

"There's no way to tell. Decomposition would take longer to happen thanks to how cold it is in here," Isaac replied. "Ivan, can you see any wounds?"

Ivan observed the body for what could have killed it, but saw nothing at first. When he turned the body over, however, a horrific sight was revealed. The skin on the man's back was completely torn to shreds, revealing the shattered spine and smashed innards.

"Ugh," Isaac emitted. Bile rose in his throat, and he swallowed hard to prevent from throwing up. He's killed things before, but never mutilated them like this. It was terrible.

"'Ugh' is right. What the hell?" Garet demanded. Getting over his disgust, Isaac leaned forward to try to discern the cause of such a horrific wound.

"Hey Garet. You see these indentations? The spine fragmented from each of these points. I'm thinking this man was hit by a mace or a club," Isaac hypothesized. Garet winced at Isaac's description.

"Ow," the redhead remarked, earning a nervous chuckle from Isaac.

"That's understatement. Ivan, what are you doing over there?" the teen replied, turning his attention to the remaining member of their group. The teen was reading a tattered book recovered from the corpse that somehow survived the damp cold.

"Reading. This is interesting. Apparently this man was an adventurer from Bilibin," Ivan answered. Isaac and Garet gazed at him curiously, waiting for the blonde to continue.

"Listen to this. He wrote here that he believed that the only way to end the curse was to bring the affected the blessed Water of Hermes, the one said to cure all ills," Ivan related.

"Well, he was half right," Isaac commented.

"That's not the best part. He goes on to say that for the purpose of his mission, he gained permission from Lord McCoy to wield 'Bilibin's strongest weapon.'" The blonde finished. Isaac and Garet looked at one another in anticipation.

"Let's try to find it," Garet whispered.

"Agreed."

With that, the trio split up to search the ledge for any sign of the man's weapon. Isaac traveled forward along the ledge in the direction they had been going before finding the body, while Garet and Ivan went to search the rest of the ledge.

Isaac didn't know why he was trying to find this thing anyway. For all he knew, it was just a giant war hammer than none of them could wield. However, it didn't hurt to be optimistic.

He soon found himself at a dead end, where the ledge met with the wall. However, the edge of the ledge at this point was slanted, which would make it easy for them to slide down if they needed to and not end up with broken limbs.

Since Garet wasn't with him, it was much darker than before. It wasn't pitch black though, because Garet wasn't that far away, and his light was bright. Due to the poor visibility, Isaac found it hard to see anything, much less a weapon.

The teen grumbled to himself and knelt down, resigning himself to finding this weapon using nothing but touch. He began sweeping his hands slowly across the ground, feeling for anything unusual. The ground was extremely cold, and it wasn't long before Isaac's fingers started tingling.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good id…" Isaac began, but then his searching fingers came into contact with something sharp, which cut into his fingers painfully. "Ow fuck! Stupid stupid!"

Isaac squinted at his fingers to see that there were several tiny cuts that were oozing blood steadily. He cursed again and prepared to use healing psynergy. As an Earth Adept, he had the ability to heal, but he had never been as good at it as anything else. In fact, it was his worst skill, as he was only able to cure small cuts and bruises, as opposed to more severe wounds.

Isaac grunted and let the weak healing energy flow. It swept across his fingers like a cool breeze, knitting the skin together and preventing further blood loss. He sighed when he was finished. Thanks to his stupidity, he had wasted precious psynergy.

He decided to be more careful this time. He remembered the general area where he was cut and gently moved his hands towards that area. When he came into contact with the sharp object, he maneuvered his hands until he could feel the flat of a blade. This must be it.

He shifted his position and traced the flat of the blade until he felt the hilt, which felt nothing like any hilt he'd ever held. Isaac closed his fingers around the hilt and lifted the blade, which was lighter than he'd expected, off of the ground.

"Guys! I think I found it!" Isaac called to his friends. Garet and Ivan soon ran to his side, light flooding the area once more. They saw the weapon in his hands and stood in awe.

"That…is like nothing I've ever seen," Garet whispered. Isaac looked at the weapon he held and drew in a breath in surprise.

The weapon he held was of no design he could remember seeing. The hilt was a strange, flowing shape and was bound with a soft leather and silver twine. It was designed to fit the hand, as no other weapon ever felt this comfortable in Isaac's hand. There was little to no cross guard on the weapon. All that was there to separate the blade from the hilt was a small metal hook to place your fingers in to prevent them from being cut on the blade.

As for the blade itself, it was an extremely thin, double-edged blade that was as long as Isaac's outstretched arm. There was also a fine blood channel that spanned the length of the blade. If he took an educated guess, Isaac could classify this weapon as a light rapier.

"It's a rapier I guess," Isaac said, voicing his observations. Ivan nodded in agreement, taking in the majesty of the blade.

"How is that the strongest weapon? I could probably break that blade with a swing from my axe," Garet criticized. Isaac shrugged. He knew little to nothing about it.

"That's probably true. Let's give it to Ivan, since he does well with lighter blades," Isaac decided. Ivan was visibly surprised by the decision.

"What? You want _me _to wield that? Wouldn't it be better off in yours or Garet's hands?" the teen asked incredulously. Garet shook his head, drawing his axe.

"I've never been one for stabby things. I love a weapon I can safely throw all of my weight behind," he disagreed.

"I'm pretty much the same. I like being able to reliably deal damage, rather than having to surgically stab for the enemy's weaknesses," Isaac explained. "Just pack up your other blade so we can sell it in Imil, and use this so we can find out why that guy thought it was so strong."

"A-all right," Ivan stammered, accepting the blade from Isaac. He then performed a few practice swings with the blade. "I don't know about strong, but this blade is finely made. It's perfectly balanced."

"Sounds like a good find," Garet remarked. With that done, the group paid their respects to the fallen adventurer by cremating his body with Garet's psynergy. Happy with their new weapon, the group moved on.

"There's another slanted edge here. There's no way to go forward, so I think this is our only path," Isaac told the group when they approached the dead end.

"Guess so. Me first then," Garet responded, and then he descended to the ground below in a flash. Isaac sighed at his eagerness, and then swiftly followed him.

They waited a moment for Ivan to join them, and then the group began to travel through the mostly straightforward passage.

"Do you remember that avalanche Verne told us about back in Bilibin?" Garet asked, breaking the tense silence.

"Yeah, back when I really wanted to ignore this whole curse thing," Isaac replied wryly. "What about it?"

"I was just wondering, do you think Saturos and Menardi will still be in this cave?" Garet continued. Isaac went silent as he thought about this. If that were true, then the final battle would soon be approaching.

"Wow, I hope not. I don't like fighting in caves. They tend to collapse," Ivan interjected in a joking manner. Garet chuckled, but Isaac had suddenly turned grim.

"Whether or not they are still here, it doesn't matter. I'll crush them all the same, and take Kraden and Jenna back with us," Isaac affirmed, his eyes narrowing, and his grip tightening on his axe.

"Kraden's the older scholar, right?" Ivan asked. He had read it in Isaac's mind, but that didn't mean he had memorized it all. Isaac nodded in confirmation. "Then who is Jenna?"

"Isaac's girlfriend," Garet spoke up before Isaac could answer, a wide grin on his face. However, he received such a withering glare from Isaac that he quailed. "What, too soon?"

"Oh I see. I remember now. Thanks," Ivan finished, choosing to ignore Isaac's reaction.

The group fell into silence after that. The passage gradually turned to the right before it began traveling straight again. The lack of any kind of monster was making Isaac uneasy. He knew there was something at least in this place, because the cold can't break spinal cords.

Soon, the cave opened into a massive chamber that was surprisingly lit by torches, suggesting that someone had passed by recently. Garet walked up to one of the torches and inspected it. Soon, a look of shock crossed his face.

"Isaac, this fire. It originated from psynergy," Garet told him seriously. Isaac gazed back at him in shock. That could only mean one thing. They were here. He drew his axe in an instant. Ivan hefted his new blade, twirling it once.

"That's not the only thing that's here," Ivan said nervously. Isaac turned back to the teen to see that he was pointing at the ground. Everyone looked to see that the ground they were standing on was actually a giant, nonhuman footprint.

"Oh…not good," Garet muttered.

"Stay on your guard, everyone," Isaac ordered. The group, weapons drawn and ready, moved forward through the lit cavern.

Surprisingly enough, there were stalagmites made completely of ice protruding from the ground, forcing the group to maneuver around them. Above them were similar icy stalactites. Isaac guessed that water trickled in form the roof and dripped down, freezing not long after doing so.

They had been walking no longer than five minutes before they heard a snort. And that was all the warning they got.

"WATCH OUT!" Garet roared, knocking Isaac and Ivan to the floor with his shield. Isaac hit the ground rolling, hearing nothing other than the loud, guttural roar that was echoing through the room.

* * *

In the last cavern before the exit from the cave, a motley collection of tents and campfires could be seen. The exit to the cave did not lead to the outside, but instead to a long icy tunnel that had obviously been carved by psynergy. Unfortunately, whoever had made the tunnel had not finished.

One of the tent flaps opened and a blue skinned man emerged, blinking away the sleep from his eyes. Saturos let out a sigh, gazing at the sleeping form of Menardi back in his tent. He had planned to propose to her a long time ago, back in his home village, but the current events had prevented him. It wasn't something that he could just ask out of the blue on a high-risk mission like this.

"I guess I'll do it when we light all the lighthouses," Saturos said softly to himself, turning away from the tent. He checked on the others, making sure they were still there. Though he doubted that the old man and the girl would try to escape now that they knew that Felix was on their side. "Right. Because it will be that easy."

"Saturos," came Felix's voice from his tent. The blue skinned man turned his gaze on the young man, who had just emerged from his own tent. "Something on your mind?"

"Not really," Saturos replied, lying through his teeth. Felix and him didn't really see eye to eye on most subjects. Although he was still a comrade and friend, he didn't trust the man enough to tell him his plans for marriage with Menardi.

"I see." The two lapsed into a silence after that. Felix wasn't really the most talkative of people, which suited Saturos just fine.

"You know, it's usually the lady who's supposed to wake up first," Menardi joked, coming out from her tent. Saturos chuckled slightly, moving to hug his partner. She accepted the embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. Felix awkwardly averted his eyes, choosing instead to sharpen his battleaxe.

"Any sign of Alex?" Menardi asked after they broke apart. Saturos shook his head, earning an exasperated sigh from the scaled woman. "We only sent him to scout out the lighthouse, not go on a damn vacation!"

"Indeed. But Alex has always done his own thing," Saturos replied. Menardi glanced at Felix, and then back at Saturos.

"Should we wake the old man and the brat yet?" she asked with an edge in her voice. Saturos knew that she hated the two they carried with them, but she also knew that it was a necessity that they be here. Kraden was too knowledgeable about the nature of Alchemy to just discard off hand. Jenna was here in order to keep Felix in line.

"That's my sister you're talking about," Felix growled, glaring at Menardi. She responded to his glare with one of her own.

"Peace, you two. We're all on the same side," Saturos interjected, exasperated at Felix's inability to let a simple question slide.

"Tch. Boy needs to learn some respect," Menardi muttered angrily into Saturos's ear as she stalked by.

"To answer your question, I think we can let them sleep. We should be through the avalanche soon, and then we can continue to the lighthouse," Saturos finally answered.

"What a pain in the ass," Menardi responded, though Saturos was not quite sure what she was referring to.

Suddenly, a faint crash could be heard from deeper in the cave. Saturos and Menardi instantly became alert, grabbing their weapons and gazing into the darkness.

"What the hell was that?" Menardi demanded. Felix grabbed his axe and walked up beside them, listening as well. Now, voices could be heard yelling and the sounds of fighting became evident.

"I know those voices," Felix said in surprise. Once Saturos and Menardi's attention was on him, he continued. "Isaac."

"Damn! They caught up to us?" Saturos cursed. They had to move fast. "Menardi! Wake Kraden and Jenna. Felix, pack up the camp, double time. I'll carve my way through the avalanche."

"Saturos, Isaac is a reasonable man. I'm sure he'd listen if we were to talk to him," Felix persuaded, but Saturos was not convinced.

"Out of the question. I gave you an order!" Saturos roared. Felix was silent for a moment, and then he nodded and began doing as he was told. Menardi dashed off to the tents and ripped open the flap and began roughly shaking the inhabitants.

Saturos cursed again and strode into the tunnel of ice that he had carved with his own psynergy. He walked for more than a minute before he reached the end of their tunnel. He thrust his palm forward and focused his psynergy.

"Cycle Beam," Saturos uttered, and a massive beam of the purest fire erupted from his hand. He had hesitated to use a technique this powerful because he wanted to save his psynergy, but they no longer had time for something like that.

The beam melted through the snow like it was nothing, instantly breaking through to the outside world. A blast of snowy air filled the chamber, though Saturos found it refreshing. After all, his hometown was in a much colder place.

"I didn't get enough sleep…can we have a few more hours?" Kraden murmured sleepily as Menardi roughly woke him. She just scoffed, ignoring his question.

"Kraden? What's going on?" Jenna asked worriedly, hearing the sounds of fighting deeper in the cave. Kraden started to answer her, but Saturos chose that moment to rush back into the camp.

"Pack things up! We don't have time to dawdle. MOVE!" Saturos roared at the two, startling them into action.

Menardi finished packing up her tent, so she stood by Saturos. She looked up at him.

"Why don't we just finish them off here so we can continue our journey in peace?" she asked, fingering her scythe dangerously. Saturos shook his head.

"I don't kill unless I absolutely have to. These are but children, so I can't blame them for being misguided. If it comes to a confrontation, then I would have no choice," Saturos explained. "I'd rather it not come to that."

"I don't agree. I think they should be annihilated for daring to halt our plan," Menardi spat. Saturos gave her an alarmed look. She noticed his reaction and winked, a cheeky grin crossing her face.

"Don't worry, I trust your judgment better than my own," she assured him. The blue skinned man visibly relaxed, glad he wouldn't have to argue with his partner.

"Saturos, Kraden and Jenna are ready. Let's get moving," Felix spoke up. Saturos nodded and motioned for Menardi to follow him.

"Good. Everyone move! We need to get to the lighthouse before they catch up," he commanded.

* * *

Isaac focused his psynergy and summoned up a wall of rock to block the fist of the large monster that had assaulted them. The monster, which towered above all of them, mostly fitted the description of a cave troll. It was large and temperamental, and carried either a large club or an axe. In this case, the troll wielded a massive club. That in and of itself told Isaac that this was the monster that had killed the adventurer.

"There would be a cave troll!" Garet cursed irritably, leaping over the swinging club of the monster. The troll was much faster than it looked, able to fight off all three of them at the same time.

Despite its overwhelming defense against any sort of physical attack, Ivan was able to deal damage reliably with his lightning psynergy. Every time the troll was zapped, it would let out another roar and swing its club, trying to smash at least one of them.

Isaac hadn't underestimated the creature, choosing to use Granite at the beginning of battle. It was a good thing he did, because the troll had managed to punch Garet directly in the chest, which would have shattered his ribs if not for Granite's protection.

"Get out of our way!" Isaac yelled at the monster. With his psynergy, Isaac shattered the rock wall he had created into small, pointed boulders, which he then directed at the troll.

The troll saw the rocks coming and destroyed them with its club, protecting itself. Isaac cursed and began awakening Flint.

"_Oh, come on! A troll of all things is giving you trouble?" _Flint teased, though he did infuse Isaac's blade with his essence.

"Shut up and kill him," Isaac grunted, bringing his axe up and charging at the monster. "Garet! Keep him off me!"

"Will do. Hey! Pea-brain!" Garet shouted at the monster, successfully getting its attention. It began to raise its club for an attack. "Ooh, maybe this wasn't such a good idea. FUUUU…!"

Garet barely managed to dodge the monsters attack, the club thudding into the ground just behind him. The ground cracked and broke underneath the giant weapon, sending shards of rock and ice flying.

The redhead turned as the troll stomped closer to him, a ball of flame forming in his hands. With a yell, Garet released his psynergy, engulfing the monster with a steady stream of fire. The troll grunted and covered its face to protect its eyes, while its tough skin charred and burnt.

"Take this!" Isaac shouted, bringing his Djinni-empowered axe down on the monster's back, where the flame couldn't reach him. His attack left a sizable gash in its hide, which instantly began to ooze blood.

The monster roared in pain and began flailing about. Its right hand managed to hit Garet head on, tossing the redhead into the wall painfully. It was thanks to Granite that he wasn't hurt too badly.

Isaac gulped and ducked under a flailing limb, suddenly realizing that maybe he hadn't thought this through. A bolt of lightning lanced from Ivan's hand and struck the monster in the head, to seemingly no effect. Isaac was unable to dodge the monster's next attack, its fist thudding into his Granite empowered shield.

Isaac winced as the ground shattered and broke underneath his feet. They needed to come up with something, or they would be in no shape to fight Saturos and Menardi when the time came.

"All right, I've had it with this thing!" Garet roared, getting up with no more than a few bruises. He lifted his axe and sprinted back at the monster. His body caught fire as he did so, leaving behind burning footprints.

The monster noticed the light from the flames and turned, its club rising in preparation for another attack. Garet didn't stop, so the troll slammed its club downwards.

"Fuck you!" Garet shouted, and then slammed a flame-coated fist into the club. Not only did his attack stop the troll's club, but it also shattered into pieces, leaving the troll weaponless.

"Good job, Garet! Ivan, let's attack all at once!" Isaac ordered. Ivan nodded in confirmation, unsheathing the rapier for the first time.

As Garet completely disregarded the fact that he had a weapon he could use instead of his fists, Isaac and Ivan yelled their battle cries. Isaac reached the troll first, unleashing a series of vicious strikes from his axe.

Then, as Ivan approached, something peculiar happened. The rapier he was holding began to gleam with an emerald color, making the cave seem dim by contrast. In fact, as Ivan grew closer, the rapier would glow brighter and the cave would grow darker. Isaac noticed the anomaly and turned his head, wondering what new psynergy Ivan was using. However, his jaw dropped when he saw the rapier's power. It was radiating psynergy like a lamp radiates light.

The cave grew pitch black, and nobody could see anything but the rapier, its emerald glow nearly blinding.

"Ivan, turn down your sword will you?" Garet remarked, slamming his fist into the troll again. Ivan didn't hear him. Ivan yelled one last battle cry before he sunk his rapier up to the hilt in the troll.

As Isaac and Garet watched, all of the pent up psynergy that had been building up in the weapon burst forth in one massive shockwave, completely engulfing what little they could see of the monster. Isaac covered his eyes as the light shined one last time.

"WHAT THE FUUUUU…..!" Garet shouted as he too, shielded his eyes. The troll could be heard roaring in pain, but it was soon cut off.

Isaac opened his eyes to see Ivan blinking in complete confusion at the scene before him. The troll was still standing, except its skin was completely charred black. When Isaac looked closer, it was easy to tell that the troll was no longer alive.

"Did…did I do that?" Ivan stammered as the monster crumbled into ash right in front of him. Isaac and Garet walked up to the teen as he gazed at his blade with a whole new respect.

"You…how do I even describe that? You deep-fried that guy!" Garet exclaimed. "Let me see that sword!"

Ivan relinquished the blade to Garet, letting the redhead inspect it. However, the second Garet's hand touched the handle, he let out a yelp and dropped it.

"What's wrong Garet?" Isaac asked curiously. Garet furiously rubbed his hands against one another in an attempt to warm them up.

"It was freezing cold! Ivan, how do you even hold that thing?" he complained. Isaac glanced at the hilt in disbelief. He had handled it not long ago, so what was the deal? He moved to pick it up.

"I don't know, it didn't feel cold to me," Ivan admitted, just as confused as everyone else. Everyone turned as Isaac uttered a pained cry. Why couldn't he hold it all of a sudden?

"It was hot! Totally hot!" Isaac yelled. Ivan looked between the two of them, clueless. Then he walked over to the rapier and picked it up like it was nothing. The other two teens gave him a wide-eyed look.

"See? Completely normal." Ivan smiled and gave the blade a few twirls before sheathing it.

"So…this is no normal weapon," Garet observed, rather obviously. Isaac ignored him and thought hard. After a few seconds, he had come up with a theory.

"This rapier must draw upon the psynergy of its wielder to unleash powerful attacks like the one we just witnessed," Isaac conjectured. "Then, after the first attack, the rapier attunes to its wielder's psynergy in order to prevent theft."

"Really? That's impressive," Ivan whispered, gazing happily down at his weapon.

"Anyhow, we can deal with this later. Saturos and Menardi must have heard that. We need to hurry!" Isaac interrupted. Once he confirmed that everyone heard him, he broke into a run down the hallway, making sure his weapons and armor was ready to go.

The group used what endurance they had left to sprint through the rest of the cave, dodging stalagmites as needed. When the passage turned to the right, the group passed between two more torches that were lit with psynergy and found themselves in the remains of a campsite.

Isaac could tell that whoever had been here had left in a hurry, if the frenzied footprints and wet soil around the fire was anything to go by. There was also a trace of…wait. He knew that smell.

Garet and Ivan caught up to Isaac to see him sniffing around like a dog. Garet blinked and poked him in the back.

"What are you doing?" the redhead asked, wondering if his friend had gone insane.

"I can smell Jenna's perfume," Isaac answered. Garet stared at first, and then started laughing uproariously.

"Come on lover boy. The sooner we catch them, the sooner you can see her again," he urged, running ahead. Isaac nodded and ran after him, Ivan not far behind.

They soon saw evidence of the avalanche that Jacellius had talked about, only it was clear that the Fire Adepts they were chasing had melted through it. It was a fairly long tunnel of ice, so it must have taken them a good while. No wonder they left in such a hurry.

At long last, the group found themselves back outside…in the middle of a snowstorm.

"Oh come on!" Garet complained over the wind, nestling himself as deep into his armor as he could get. Isaac shivered intensely. The sudden drop in temperature told him that they were in the northernmost reaches of Angara, where he was sure it always snowed like this.

"Get used to it Garet! We did choose to come to Imil during winter of all times," Ivan yelled back, trudging through the snow. Garet's response was inaudible grumbling, which was impossible to hear over the wind. Isaac walked up beside his friends, sheathing his weapons.

"There's no way we'll be able to catch up with them in this weather. We'll have to intercept them at Imil itself!" Isaac informed them.

"All right. It's not much farther. We'll probably get there in three or four days if we hurry!" Ivan answered, taking point. Isaac nodded and motioned for Garet for them to keep moving.

* * *

The snowstorm slowed their travel speed considerably, and it showed no signs of stopping. Garet's psynergy was already drained from the battle with the troll, so he was unable to speed up their progress with heat.

The group was trudging through a headwind, which slowed them down even more. As the sun dipped below the horizon, Isaac was forced to take shelter in a small copse of trees nearby to protect them from the falling snow. There, they made camp for the night.

The next morning, the snow had not abated whatsoever, much to their frustration. The tree above their camp had decided to relinquish its load of snow on top of their tents last night, waking the entire group up. Therefore, none of them were feeling fully rested.

Fortunately, the wind had changed direction during the night, turning into a tailwind and speeding them along. It was this day where they made the most progress. Garet was fully charged from his rest, so he would use psynergy only on the largest snowdrifts to ease their passage.

Surprisingly, Ivan also helped with his own psynergy. Isaac had mostly seen him using lightning rather than wind, so he assumed that he was better in that regard. However, Ivan's prowess over the wind was considerable. During the times when the wind threatened their progress due to its strength, Ivan would slow down the wind only in their proximity until it died down again.

They soon came upon a river, though they couldn't use it to refill their rapidly depleting canteens since it was completely frozen solid.

The group crossed the frozen river on foot just as night fell, so they made camp on the far side. Although the camp was in the open, the group helped protect it from the elements by gathering snow and ice and forming a makeshift wall.

The next morning, Isaac discovered their food supplies to be dangerously low. The fruit they had borrowed from Kolima Forest was long gone, leaving them with nothing but a few slices of bread and cheese. Isaac was forced to ration the food, leaving them each with a quarter of a slice each for breakfast.

According to Ivan, they were within two days of reaching Imil. Isaac only hoped their food and water could last until then.

The snowstorm began to ease up halfway through the day. Isaac took this opportunity to speed up the pace. From then on, the group began to alternate between sprinting and jogging. Thus, the distance covered was twice as much.

Soon, a pine forest came into view. Ivan informed them that this was the forest closest to Imil. Isaac was glad to hear that, so he could end this hellish march as well as this quest in one fell swoop.

They were past the forest when night finally fell. They made camp using the same technique as the previous night, due to their location on the snowy plains. The next day they would reach Imil, so Isaac wanted them all to be well rested.

Luckily, Isaac managed to hunt and kill a few small animals. They were scrawny, but it was good for the group to finally have a hot meal for once. Isaac took first watch, though it was uneventful.

The next day, the group traveled the plains, heading straight for Imil. However, they spotted something strange.

* * *

Something began appearing over the horizon. Isaac thought that it was Imil at last, but trashed that thought as soon as he saw the eerie, cyan blue color of the looming structure.

"What is that? It's massive!" Garet exclaimed, pointing at the horizon. Isaac suddenly realized what it was as they grew closer.

"That must be the Mercury Lighthouse," Isaac hypothesized. Garet and Ivan saw the structure in a new light.

The architecture was nothing like he had ever seen. He was used to wooden houses and thatched roofs, but nothing like the eerie blue tiles the lighthouse was made of.

"That means we are close. Can you tell if it is lit yet?" Ivan asked, peering at the top of the lighthouse. Isaac squinted to get a better view, but the peak seemed dark to him.

"No, it doesn't look like it," Isaac related to them. Garet and Ivan let out a sigh of relief.

"Then we still have time. Let's keep moving, Isaac," Garet said. Isaac nodded and the group sped up their pace.

Imil appeared before them not long after they saw the lighthouse. The structure looked even more massive the closer they got to it.

Imil itself was much like Isaac had expected. The town was mostly wooden houses with snow-covered roofs, mostly likely thatched. It seemed that every town in Angara had similar architecture.

A frozen river cut right through the town, but due to its solid state, it didn't interfere with the village's activities. A wooden fence surrounded the whole town, most likely to protect it from monsters or other threats.

As the snowstorm finally dissipated, the group reached the entrance to Imil at last.

"It's about time! We've been talking and talking about it, and now we are actually here! Hooray for civilization!" Garet cheered exuberantly. Isaac chuckled, his spirits lifting a little as well.

"All right, don't lose your head. We still have one hell of a fight to get ready for," Isaac remarked. Garet sighed. Isaac could tell by his attitude that he wanted the quest over with as much as he did.

"We don't have time to do anything else. Let's zoom through this place and get to that lighthouse," Ivan informed them. Isaac nodded and darted towards the open gate.

A villager was there to meet them. Isaac couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, but he/she was wrapped up in multiple cloths and scarves to protect it from the winter chill. However, the villager's body language clearly told them that Imil was not expecting visitors.

"Visitors at this time of year? What brings you to Imil?" the villager, whose voice gave it away as a woman, asked with a mixture of curiosity and shock in her voice. Isaac mentally groaned, but it was against his nature to be rude to her.

"We are here to visit the Mercury Lighthouse, if that is all right," Isaac replied pleasantly giving her a slight bow. She looked taken aback.

"The lighthouse? But the Waters of Hermes dried up decades ago," the villager informed them regretfully. Isaac's heart practically stopped.

"W…what?" Isaac yelled incredulously. He couldn't believe what he just heard. All that work he put into saving Tret and the people of Kolima, and they dried out long ago?

"What do we do, Isaac? We can't save Tret without them," Ivan asked worriedly. Isaac honestly didn't have an answer for him.

"Let's not worry about that now. Saturos and Menardi are still our top priority. If they succeed, then the whole world is screwed, including Tret," Garet reminded them. Isaac nodded and did his best to clear his mind.

"That doesn't matter ma'am. We still need to reach the lighthouse," Isaac finally said to her. She nodded, opening the gate for them.

"All right. To reach the lighthouse, travel through the town and take the northern past. It will take you northeast to your destination." The villager told them. "Let me warn you though, there's a bad cold going around. Mia is trying her best to heal them, but she's just one girl."

Isaac ignored her warning at first. He was already through the gate when the oddity of her warning struck him. There is no cure for a cold. So how can there be a girl that can cure it?

"Any stops to make before we head out then?" Garet asked. He was looking around the town as he spoke, taking in the scenery.

The town was housed in a circular valley, with the larger buildings being situated on higher ledges and the smaller, residential houses taking up the bottom of the valley. The frozen river was filled with a multitude of small children, laughing and skating on the slick surface. Isaac almost wanted to join them. In fact, he resolved to do just that after he defeats Saturos and Menardi.

Returning to Garet's question, Isaac wanted to refit the group with new armor and weapons, but the shops appeared to be boarded up.

"Just the inn. I'd like us all to be fully fed and ready to fight by the time we climb that lighthouse," Isaac decided. Garet nodded, and the three progressed forward.

The second building they came across was the inn. Isaac could barely see the sign telling him so due to the large amount of icicles on it, so he nearly passed it up. It was a good thing Ivan had spotted it for him.

When Isaac opened the door, he was startled to realize that there was no one in the inn other than staff.

"It's…rather empty. Sweet! That means better service!" Garet observed. The second his loud voice was heard, a rather large man with a mustache approached them.

"The name's Jim. I'm the innkeeper here. You here for business?" he said pleasantly. Isaac realized that everyone else had homes, so there was no reason to come to the inn during the winter seasons. No wonder it was so empty.

"Just for a meal. Then we need to get moving rather fast," Isaac replied. Jim shrugged and guided them to a table, barking out orders to the rest of the staff.

"Good enough," he grunted. "We don't get much business this time of year, so you can expect the best we have to offer."

"We're grateful, sir," Ivan piped up, sitting at the table. Isaac and Garet joined him, ready for their first real meal in months.

"It's been rough," Isaac began. Garet snorted.

"No kidding. How long have we been gone? A month? Two months? Time means nothing to me now," the redhead responded.

"I hear ya. Anyhow, I just wanted to thank you Ivan," Isaac said, turning his head to the teen in question.

"Me? What for?" Ivan asked with a surprised tone. Isaac gave him a friendly smile.

"We haven't been traveling long together, but I feel like I've known you my entire life. Thank you for being a part of this," Isaac told him in the most sincere tone he could muster. Ivan looked taken aback.

"You're welcome, but this was something I needed to do. I've always wanted to use my powers for good, but I've never gone farther than being a rich merchant's boy. At least now I feel like I'm making a difference," the teen answered, equally serious.

"What, is this the part where everyone soul searches and bro-hugs?" Garet interjected with a stupid grin on his face. Isaac and Ivan slowly turned their heads to him, wearing disbelieving expressions.

"And just like that, the moment is gone," Isaac lamented, earning a laugh from Ivan.

"What, you don't want a bro-hug?" Garet joked, suddenly standing up. Isaac held out his hands as if to ward him off.

"I think I can manage…!" the teen began, only to be interrupted.

"GIMME A BRO-HUG!" Garet was already jumping at him. Isaac yelped as the large teen wrapped his arms around him and knocked both of them, plus the chair Isaac was sitting on, to the ground with a smash.

"WHAT EVEN…!"

"Quite a lively duo, aren't they," Jim commented, walking up beside Ivan with a tray full of glasses of water.

"That's one way of putting it," Ivan muttered, his face resting securely in his palm.

* * *

When the merrymaking was over, the group was served a succulent meal fresh out of the oven, courtesy of the inn staff. Isaac ate slowly, in contrast to Garet, who was wolfing down everything as if it was his last meal. Ivan ignored the both of them and ate at his own pace.

Near the end of their meal, a girl descended the stairs from the second floor. Isaac could hear her talking to Jim, but paid her no attention. When the teen looked at Garet, he sighed. The redhead was paying her _way _too much attention.

"Garet…what are you looking at?" Isaac asked in a bored tone, though he was sure he knew the answer.

"Her hair. It's blue," was Garet's rather terse response. Isaac raised an eyebrow as he turned to look himself.

"Not her ass? Surely this must be a mirac…holy shit it _is _blue."

It was true. The young woman who was talking to Jim indeed had hair that was a startling shade of cyan blue.

"That's…odd," Ivan commented. A nearby waitress spotted their interest and decided to join their conversation.

"That's just Mia. She's from some clan or another, and they all have hair like that," she told them. Isaac turned back to her with an eyebrow raised.

"You mean there's a whole bunch of people running around with blue hair?" he inquired. The way he phrased his question caused Garet to chuckle.

"Nothing I've ever heard of. I think she and her late father's old apprentice, Alex, are the only two left," the waitress answered.

"Alex…I've heard that before…but where?" Garet mused to himself quietly. Isaac mulled over what the waitress had said. The only other guy with blue hair that he could remember seeing was…then it clicked.

"Garet. Alex was that guy we met at Sol Sanctum. The one who took our Elemental Stars," Isaac told him urgently. Garet's eyes widened in pure shock.

"That means she must be one of our enemies if she's allied with him," Garet growled, his hand straying closely to his axe. Isaac stopped his hand, giving him a warning look. They were in the middle of an inn after all.

"Mia? An enemy? Never. She's our village healer. The only reason we aren't all down with the sickness already is because of her," the waitress spoke up in protest. Isaac thought about this, confused.

"…just healed my grandpa. If I hadn't gotten there in time, I don't know what would have happened," Mia said, walking into earshot of the group. Isaac chose this moment to listen in to see what he could learn.

"That Ply magic you use is very useful. I'm glad we have you around," Jim replied. Isaac and Garet glanced at one another in surprise.

"Magic…that sounds like psynergy," Isaac whispered. Garet gave him a grin in response.

"I was just thinking the same thing myself," the redhead added. Isaac was just about to get up and approach Mia when she left the inn.

"There she goes. Are you guys going to see if she can help?" Ivan asked. Isaac was indecisive, but if the look on Garet's face was anything to go by, then he already knew his answer.

"I'd like to, but we don't have time. Saturos and Menardi might already be in the lighthouse," Isaac admitted reluctantly. Ivan nodded, and Garet looked crushed.

"Come on, I'd really like a girl in the group. Gives a nice respite from all the male energy, you know?" Garet pleaded in a joking manner. Isaac gave him an incredulous look.

"Seriously? I'm pretty sure most of the testosterone in this group comes from you, so why are you complaining?" the teen shot back with a grin. Ivan decided to join the conversation.

"Did…you just call Garet manly?" Ivan asked uncertainly. Isaac thought about it for a second and then mentally prepared himself for Garet's reaction.

"Aha! You did! I win!" Garet cheered, thrusting his fist into the air. Isaac sigh and facepalmed.

"Shit, walked right into that one..."

* * *

After paying, the group gathered their stuff and prepared to head for the lighthouse.

"Hey, there's Mia again," Garet pointed out. Isaac looked, and sure enough, the blue haired girl was emerging from a nearby house. "Yes, we're going the same way!"

Isaac sighed in exasperation as Mia began walking near them, in the same direction as they were going. When Garet began staring, Ivan elbowed him sharply.

"Just ignore her. We need to get moving. That lighthouse won't stay dark forever if we just stick around," Isaac reminded the redhead. Garet sighed and did as he was told, with difficulty.

When the group neared the frozen river, another problem presented itself. The children were still playing on the river, so getting across without getting hit would be an issue.

"Think I could get Mia to move them for us?" Garet asked Isaac, stealing a glance at the girl in question. Isaac ignored him and took a few more steps towards the icy river. He could probably slide across if he timed himself to avoid the sliding children. He knew he would get ridiculed constantly if Garet saw him knock a child down, so he would have to be careful.

"Hey!" Garet pressed, nudging Isaac hard enough to unbalance him. Isaac's eyes went wide, nearly falling onto the ice. When he stabilized himself, Isaac gave Garet a death glare, which just caused the redhead to laugh.

"What?" Isaac demanded with bad grace. Garet pointed at Mia again.

"I asked if we could…" he began, but Isaac cut him off with a wave of his hand. The redhead blinked, confused.

"I heard you the first time. No. You just want an excuse to talk to her," the teen snapped, though a good-natured glint could be seen in his eyes.

"How do you know I wasn't just trying to help?"

"Because I know better!" Nearby, Ivan groaned at their antics and made to cross the river himself.

However, Mia was the first to reach the river. With the grace of a dancer, she slid across the slick surface with a smile on her face, her violet and white robes fluttering behind her. She didn't look like she was expending any effort at all, despite how perfectly balanced she looked. A kid zoomed by her yelling a greeting, which was returned with ease.

The three friends stared at her incredulously. She made it look so ridiculously easy. Garet switched his gaze between her and the ice, the wheels turning in his head.

"This is easy!" he exclaimed, and without waiting for approval, he jumped onto the ice and propelled himself forward by pushing on the fence nearby. Isaac crossed his arms and waited, a wry smile on his face.

"I swear, he's going to…" Ivan began, but before he could finish, a kid zooming from the southernmost part of the river yelled a warning as he neared Garet.

"Wait what the…" Garet uttered as he slid towards the other side. He turned his head and made eye contact with the child who was swiftly approaching him. "No….no no nonononono NOOO!"

The kid slammed into Garet at top speed, sending the two tumbling end over end onto the river. The momentum from the kid transferred to Garet, sending him sliding at top speed up the river. The child managed to grab a rock and halt his forward momentum.

"I knew it," Isaac said simply, watching Garet slide. The redhead was screaming bloody murder as he slid down the river, through a maze of jagged rocks, and into the frozen waterfall on the other side. His speed was enough to shatter the ice of the waterfall, sending him into a small cavern that had not been visible before.

The child glanced after Garet with an amused look on his face. Then he shrugged and walked over the ice to Mia with little to no difficulty. The blue haired girl glanced at him from the corner of her eye and then yanked on his ear, causing the kid to stop in his tracks and yelp.

"You apologize to that newcomer, Justin. You should have been watching where you were going," Mia chastised the young boy, who pouted.

"But he was the one stupid enough to cross during playtime!" Justin protested, though Mia's grip on his ear did not lessen. "Owowow stoppit!"

"Stupid or not, it's your job to watch out for them. He's a stranger, he wouldn't know any better," she continued. Only after Justin muttered a sullen agreement did she release his ear. The affected appendage turned bright red, causing Justin to rub it gingerly.

On the other side of the river, Isaac and Ivan were laughing at Garet's plight. Mia noticed them and giggled herself, realizing that the teens must be easygoing. When Isaac met her eyes, she smiled and motioned for them to cross over to her.

"All right, let me show Garet how it's done," Isaac bragged, grinning. Ivan just shoved his palm towards Isaac.

"I'll have nothing to do with that…" the blonde remarked. Isaac chuckled and proceeded to cross the river, though not nearly as graceful as Mia had. When his feet made contact with the snow ground on the other side, Isaac nearly tripped, but Mia thankfully steadied him by grabbing his arm gently.

"Thanks," he said to her gratefully. Mia nodded and turned her gaze to Ivan, who was already crossing. The blonde fared better than Isaac, managing to stop himself without Mia's help.

"There you go. Sorry about the children, strangers," Mia apologized to them. Isaac dusted himself off and turned to her.

"Nah, it's mostly Garet's fault for being so sure he could imitate you," he quipped, earning a giggle from the girl. "I'm Isaac, by the way."

"My name is Mia, the village healer. It's always nice to see visitors, though it's rather odd that you are here in the winter," she introduced herself with a friendly smile, extending her hand to Isaac. The teen shook it eagerly. After all, there was a small chance that she could be like them. If that was true, she could be a potential ally after the lighthouse mess was over with. Then again, it wouldn't be very useful then, since Saturos and Menardi would be dead by then and their quest would be over.

"I'm Ivan. I'm from Kalay," Ivan spoke up, gaining Mia's attention. A spark of recognition appeared in her eyes at the name of Ivan's home village. She turned to face him.

"Nice to meet you Ivan. You are a long way from home. Are you here trading for Master Hammet?" Mia inquired. Isaac was surprised she knew about the merchant, if Kalay was so far away from here. Then again, the merchant must have been up here at one point to conduct business. This place looked like it would need supplies after a long winter.

"No, we're here to climb the li…" Ivan began to tell her their true purpose in Imil, but just then, the frozen waterfall where Garet had slid into suddenly exploded in a blast of fire.

"What?" Mia cried as fire vented out of the small cavern Garet had entered. Isaac and Ivan drew their weapons in the blink of an eye and ran towards the frozen river, rushing to Garet's aid.

More explosions sounded, shattering more and more of the waterfall into pieces and melting what was left. When Isaac and Ivan had slid across the ice to the cavern, they could not enter the cave due to the intense heat emanating from within.

"Garet…what the hell is going on!" Isaac shouted into the cave, and was rewarded with a loud explosion. Fire streamed out of the opening like a strong wind, which forced the two Adepts back.

"I can't see inside! It's too bright!" Ivan cried. Isaac wished that he could warp the earth to see inside, but all he could see was ice and snow, which he could not affect.

"Take this! And that!" Garet's battle cries could be heard from within the cave. "I will claim you!"

Isaac and Ivan looked at one another, confused. Claim what?

Garet began groaning in exertion, as if he was charging up a powerful blast. The pitch of his voice steadily rose until he was shouting at the top of his lungs. The two teens had no warning before the entire waterfall shattered into bits, including the rest of the cavern. Ice and rock cascaded to the ground like an avalanche, forcing the two to scramble backwards frantically to avoid being hurt.

Mia joined them by the settling dust, just as confused as they were about the happenings in the cave. Everyone looked as the dust settled to reveal a triumphant looking Garet, who was holding, to everyone's surprise, a very defeated Mars Djinni.

"Take that! You don't mess with the Garet! I rule! Dananana na na…wha? Isaac?" Garet stopped in the middle of his monologue when he noticed the shocked and perplexed looks on his friends' faces.

"You found a Dji…" Isaac started, only for Mia to dash past him to Garet. She began scanning over him for injuries, which made sense, considering she was a healer.

"What happened? Are you all right? What is that?" Mia bombarded him with questions. Garet was too busy staring down the front of her robes to answer. Isaac walked up and elbowed his friend sharply, returning him to the present.

"Uh, yeah, this little critter…it attacked me…so I fought back and things went boom…and," Garet stuttered, trying to form a coherent response. Isaac sighed and nudged him again to shut him up.

"He's fine. It will take a lot more than an Elemental Djinni to bring him down," Isaac cut across him. Mia began alternating her gaze between the two of them, looking completely confused.

"Elemental what?" she prompted. Ivan decided to speak up then, joining the three in the cavern.

"Djinni. Little creatures that can lend great power to qualified individuals," he explained. That was pretty much it in a very small nutshell. A look of understanding dawned on Mia's face.

"_Aaah…I'm ti…is that a Djinni?" _Flint said suddenly, waking up inside Isaac's mind. "_Wait, there's two Djinn!"_

Isaac looked startled. Two Djinn? There was the one in Garet's hand, but where was the other?

"I…I think I have something like that too…" Mia stammered uncertainly, gaining the full attention of Isaac, Ivan, and Garet. The redhead allowed the Djinni he was holding to dissipate into glowing red orbs, which entered his body and joined with the other Djinni, Forge, in his mind.

"Are you sure?" Isaac asked, stepping up to her. She nodded and held out her palm. As the three Adepts watched, blue orbs emanated form her palm and coalesced into a squat blue creature with a spiky blue head-crest, glowing yellow eyes, and a violet tail.

"Is this a Djinni?" Mia asked, gazing at Isaac hopefully. Isaac waited for Flint to respond. He was sure it was a Djinni, but Flint would know better than he would.

"_Well I'll be. A Mercury Djinni! Though to be fair, this one isn't strong at all. Anyhow, the fact that she can use it proves that you are in fact speaking with a Mercury Adept!" _Flint explained. Isaac looked stunned.

"What is it, Isaac?" Garet asked.

"Mia, that is definitely a Mercury Djinni," Isaac told her with finality. Mia's eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

"What…does that make me then?" she asks. Isaac was about to tell her when the ground began to shake. The four began looking around wildly for the source of the disturbance. When the shaking intensified and no source was readily distinguishable, they ran out of the broken cavern and back on the western side of the frozen river

The rest of the village was panicking, people running around madly for shelter. Isaac looked around, but nothing looked out of the ordinary until he saw the lighthouse.

The giant, cerulean colored structure flashed intensely, illuminating the entire village with an eerie blue light. However, it only lasted for a second before it faded away. As the light faded, so did the earthquake, leaving the village in a perplexed silence.

Mia's expression could only be described as horror. Isaac's group didn't know what the flash meant, but he did know it couldn't be good.

"The lighthouse! Someone…someone broke the seal! But that means…oh no. Alex!" Mia cried, and then before anyone could ask her what was wrong, she was dashing in the direction of the lighthouse as if a swarm of hornets was following her.

Isaac, Garet, and Ivan glanced at one another with worried looks. They all drew the same conclusion within seconds of one another.

"The seal…that means Saturos and Menardi are in the lighthouse," Ivan deduced. Isaac hefted his weapon and cracked his neck, readying himself for battle.

"Come on everyone. We no longer have any time to waste!" Isaac commanded.

"You got it. Let's do this!" Garet added. With a simultaneous roar, the three charged down the path to the lighthouse after Mia.

The Mercury Lighthouse awaited them, with no doubt traps and monsters lying in wait for them.

* * *

Done…I have no idea why, but writer's block hit me hard during this chapter. For some reason, I just couldn't get past the scene in the inn. Basically, I wanted to end this chapter by heading to the lighthouse, yet I didn't want the characters to stay overmuch since they were chasing Saturos and Menardi.

Speaking of Saturos and Menardi, did you like that little scene I added with them in it? I thought I should expand on their relationships with one another, as well as emphasize just how close the two groups were to clashing once and for all…(or so you think..)

Did you like my explanation of the weapon unleashes? That poor troll (which was partially a LOTR reference…they have a cave troll XD) didn't know what hit it. Also…ugh…I ….I made a Harry Potter reference…uuuuugh…I died a little inside when I realized I did…

I also underestimated how LONG it would take to get to Imil conventionally. That's a long time.

Anyhow, shout outs!

**Mystery Box: **Firstly, I have to say: Y U NO MAKE AN ACCOUNT SO I CAN PM YOU BACK? Lol anyway, I'm glad you liked my descriptions of the summons. Even now, I don't think I did them justice, but it does me good to hear that someone liked them. And again, as I went to the trouble of saying up top, I will be doing one for the lost age, but I'm not sure about Dark Dawn.

**Kinglumption: **Yay, my most consistent reviewer has returned! By the way…he gets a pedestal each time he reviews, so the rest of you have a little pedestal, while he has the fucking Karin Tower. Yes, I did just make a Dragon Ball reference. Anyhow, I'm glad you like my Garet=Natsu jokes. It just fits him so much! Because shit blows up when he's nearby. Iron Fist of the Dragon God. Enough said.

**Kaiser Spartan: **A relatively new reviewer, but welcome just the same. But you are right. Anyone who calls me a racist is indeed an idiot. But as I said before, I AM doing the Lost Age. Dark Dawn I don't know.

**OMNISENSE95: **And my other overzealous reviewer is over here, though he didn't like my last chapter, because I "didn't have enough plot." Um, sorry, but I can't zoom them straight to Imil just like that. Well, I could, but then the story would feel rushed, and rushed=suck. So I do the best with what I'm given. I'm sure I made it still worth reading.

**CreativeJournalist: **You're back! My first reviewer has returned! I'm glad you took the time to return to my humble story and submit your opinion. I'm also glad I'm back. You know, because this story is too awesome to just let it gather dust. As for not meeting Jupiter Adepts…I have no idea. I just sort of assumed it would be common sense. Since Jupiter is associated with wind and lightning, and Ivan used such. I figured that Isaac would put 2 and 2 together.

**Alex: **Okay, mister anonymous….Y U NO MAKE ACCOUNT? Anyhow…I don't like being rude…but seriously? Isaac? Gay? Have you NOT been reading? Isaac is in love with Jenna. Who is a girl. So how the hell do you draw that conclusion? He is faithful in his mind, so he did his best to ignore Laurel, since he believed he only needed one girl, which was Jenna. He is not gay. Try reading everything next time. As for using every summon…again, have you not been reading? I made it so that each god exacts a favor…and Ramses favor was hellish enough. Imagine if they had to fulfill 3 favors at once from even stronger entities.

Anyhow, I'm done with said shout outs. I had quite a few, though that last one made me facepalm. A lot.

Keelah Se'lai,

The Proud Quarian,

Terran34


	15. The Mercury Lighthouse Part 1

All right! Let's do this! Finally at the first lighthouse of the series! Which means it will take the entirety of the chapter just to cover it, I'm sure.

And if I improve my fighting scenes enough, I think I can use an entire chapter to cover the battle with Saturos. I've been watching a lot of Dragon Ball, so hopefully I can use things I've seen there as inspiration to elongate my battles and "epic" them up, for lack of a better word. So I'll probably, on some sections, focus less on blow for blow, and include some generalities. Like, "the two began exchanging a blinding array of punches…each one blocking and attacking the best they were able…" and stuff. Maybe I'll use that exact sentence. Or maybe not, since it looks awkward. As my old English professor would say, "AWK!"

So, I won't take anymore of your time. That is, if anyone actually reads these author notes.

Disclaimer. This is a non-profit fan-based Fanfiction. Golden Sun, Golden Sun the Lost Age, and Golden Sun DarkDawn are the property of Nintendo, Camelot, Shugo Takahashi, Hiroshi Yamauchi, and Hiroyuki Takahashi. Please support the official release.

Disclaimer. The previous disclaimer is the property of Team-Four Star and was reused here because the author has no originality. Please…support…the official…parody? What is this I don't even.

* * *

Things were desperate. The flash of light accompanied by the earthquake indicated that Saturos and Menardi were inside the Mercury Lighthouse, and were climbing it even as Isaac and his team closed in on them.

From the town itself, the lighthouse was a short distance away, perhaps an hour or two by Isaac's estimate.

Mia was ahead of them by several minutes. Isaac's group was steadily gaining on her, most likely because she spent her time tending to the sick, not traveling cross-country like Isaac's group had been doing.

The lighthouse had looked massive since the second Isaac saw it, but the distance between them was deceptive. The closer they got to it, the larger it was, until it was larger than anything Isaac had ever seen in his life, including Mt. Aleph itself.

A large body of water drew into sight, along with the base of the lighthouse. The land they were traveling on narrowed until it was nothing but a small peninsula, connected to the lighthouse by way of a small, tiled bridge.

* * *

"I feel like an ant," Garet gulped, craning his head back to try and see the top of the lighthouse. Despite his efforts though, the summit eluded his gaze. "I can't even see the top!"

Isaac spared one glance upwards, only to see nothing but the wall of the lighthouse, extending far above them before dipping into the bottom of the cloud layer. It certainly was impressive.

"Come on, we don't have much time," Ivan reminded them. Isaac nodded and crossed the bridge to the base of the lighthouse. Like Sol Sanctum, the walls and floor were covered in tiling made of an eerie blue metal. Each time Isaac took a step, his boots would click upon the slick surface, not unlike the ice they'd encountered.

"What do you think those statues are?" Garet asked nervously, following close behind Isaac. The blonde gazed at the statues in question out of the corner of his eyes. They were similar to the ones in Sol Sanctum. They were taller than he was, depicting delicate female figures carrying vases of water. Unlike the Sol Sanctum statues, they did not possess wings.

"Good question. Maybe they are depictions of the race that built these lighthouses," Isaac replied.

"Then why aren't there any males?" Garet pressed. Isaac sighed. He had a point, but Isaac knew that the redhead was just nervous. He could understand. Isaac was nervous as well in the shadow of such an otherworldly structure.

"Your guess is as good as mine," the blonde admitted. Garet sighed and followed Isaac to the other side. Ivan was not far behind.

Once they crossed the bridge, there were two sets of stairs leading to the next level of the lighthouse base, one on either side of the bridge. Isaac assumed that they both led to the same place, so he climbed the left set. He discovered that he was right, so his friends followed him up.

The most eye-catching feature of this level of the lighthouse base was the sizeable depression in the ground to their left.

"What is that? It looks like a…fountain of sorts?" Ivan pointed out, drawing close to the depression. Garet peered inside, clicking his tongue when he saw that it was empty.

"Can't be. A fountain would have water, right? There's nothing like that here," the redhead observed. Isaac walked up the depression as well. His sharp eyes noticed a small stone structure with a hole in it, which would serve as the source of the fountain's water if this truly were a fountain. It was dry, but that isn't what interested the teen. There was a stone inscription on the side of the structure.

Isaac knelt down to inspect the inscription. His eyes widened slightly as he read it.

"Waters of Hermes: It brings rejuvenation to all that lives," Isaac read. His oration gained the attention of Ivan and Garet, who gazed at him in shock.

"This was the source of the Waters of Hermes? But it's completely empty!" Garet exclaimed.

"So that villager was telling the truth," Ivan mused. Isaac growled and pounded his fist onto the inscription. Any hope for Tret and the people of Kolima seemed to be dead. This was his only hope, and it was gone.

"That's it then. There's nothing we can do," Isaac admitted solemnly. Garet cursed loudly and flung his shield onto the ground, creating a loud clang as the bronze collided with the tiling.

"What about the people of Kolima? Are we just going to let them die?!" Ivan demanded, walking up to Isaac. The blonde grunted and turned away.

"What do you want me to do? Without the Waters of Hermes, there's no way to save Tret!" Isaac shot back, despair evident in his voice.

"Isaac's right. The only thing we can do for them now, is make sure Saturos and Menardi don't bring the world down with them," Garet spoke up reluctantly. Ivan glanced between them furiously. Finally, he let out a frustrated yell.

"Is someone there?" Mia's voice sounded out. The group looked to see her walking back from further ahead. When her curious eyes alighted upon them, they turned confused. "You're the strangers from town. Why are you here?"

"We're here to stop the intruders before they endanger the world," Isaac replied gruffly, now in a terrible mood. Mia nodded slowly, and then motioned for them to follow her.

They did so, avoiding a few gaping pitfalls in the path forward where the tile had collapsed. The path eventually ended in a dead end, blocked by a menacing looking statue of a lizard-like creature. Further separating that statue from them was another pitfall, but it was small enough to be jumped.

"Someone is here, in this lighthouse. Can you hear them?" Mia told them. Isaac already knew that Saturos and Menardi were in here, but he didn't know about hearing them. Out of courtesy, he stopped to listen.

Surprisingly, he could hear the faintest sounds of fighting. If he hadn't known to listen for them, he never would have heard them. It seemed that the lighthouse itself was giving their enemies some resistance. That bought them some time.

"Barely, but you're right," Isaac confirmed. Garet nodded, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, though you think it'd be harder to get into a place like this," the redhead commented, disregarding the statue that was blocking the way through. Isaac agreed. A simple Move would get rid of this statue. Since Mia was a Mercury Adept, according to Flint, it was curious to him why she hadn't knocked it aside just yet.

Mia sighed in frustration, turning away from the statue. Her expression was a mixture of confusion and barely concealed shock. Isaac didn't know what her angle was in all of this, only that she possibly shared their goal of preventing the lighthouse from being lit. There was also her connection with the mysterious Alex to be considered.

"Alex is the only one other than me who can open the Mercury Lighthouse," Mia explained. Isaac's expression turned to one of understanding. If he understood this right, then Alex and Mia had once been friends, so her shock was towards a possible betrayal.

"We already knew Alex was working with the enemy, so that's not much of a surprise," Garet mentioned off hand. Isaac hissed a warning to the redhead, but Mia had already heard. Her eyes went wide with further shock, and she turned on him swiftly.

"What?!" Mia gasped in disbelief. "I mean, the fact that he opened the lighthouse means that something is amiss, but you've already met him?"

Garet took a step back, unsure of how to respond. While he stumbled over his words, Isaac stepped forward and answered for him.

"We met someone that our quarry referred to as 'Alex' back in our home village. He had blue hair, like you," Isaac explained. Mia's attention turned to him instantly when he started speaking, allowing Garet to relax.

"Really? What was he doing there? Was he all right?" she demanded worriedly. Isaac could tell by her questions that she had been close to Alex, though he could only guess how close. He sighed, not sure how to relate the news to her. "Well?"

"You won't like it. Alex was one of the ones opposing us and attempting to restore alchemy," Isaac answered apologetically. She shook her head frantically.

"He could have been forced! Or he was trying to trick them somehow! I cant believe that he would turn against everything our clan stood for," Mia protested desperately.

"Nuh-uh. He was clearly there of his own volition. Saturos and Menardi were all buddy-buddy with him," Garet clarified to the distraught adept.

"I can't believe this. My father trusted him so much…I have to see for myself. I will get inside!" Mia snapped. She stormed over to the gap in the floor where the entrance to the lighthouse was, hidden behind a statue. She leaned over the gap precariously and grasped onto the statue, attempting to push it aside.

Ivan saw what she was doing and instantly ran to her, just as her feet slipped on the slick tiling. Mia screamed aloud and nearly fell off the platform to the no doubt freezing water below, and would have had Ivan not reached forward and grasped the back of her robes.

"Be careful. We can't have you dying on us," Ivan advised her. With Garet's help, the two adepts pulled Mia back up onto the walkway. She growled with annoyance and brushed off her robes.

"I almost had it. Someone doesn't want me getting inside," she deduced, turning her gaze up to look at the lighthouse. Garet and Isaac looked at one another.

"Do you want to do it? Or should I?" the redhead asked, a grin crossing his face. Isaac was thinking the exact same thing as his friend

"Do? Do what?" Mia asked curiously. She was completely ignored.

"I'll do it. I'm guessing the monsters in here, if any, will be weak to fire, so we'll need your psynergy more," Isaac replied. The teen strode past his friends until he was facing the impeding statue.

Isaac thrust out his palm and concentrated, summoning up the psynergy lying dormant in his body. With a grunt of exertion, the white hand of Move materialized in the air beside the lizard statue. Mia saw the hand and gasped, both of her hands going to her mouth in surprise.

"Get out of here," Isaac growled. He jerked his palm over to the right. The ghostly hand did the same, colliding with the statue and displacing it from in front of the entrance. The ledge ended not far to the right of the now revealed doorway, so Isaac Moved the statue off the edge and into the frigid water.

"Wow…did you do that?" Mia asked, gazing off the edge at the now sunken statue.

"Yeah. It was nothing. Now we can get inside and find our respective targets," Isaac responded. Mia rubbed her eyes, as if she couldn't believe what she had just seen.

"I saw some sort of ghostly force pushing that statue…what was that?" Mia pressed. Isaac sighed. They didn't have the time to explain it, so Isaac leapt over the gap and peered into the doorway. However, there was a glowing blue barrier with the viscosity of water blocking further passage. He pressed a hand to it, but couldn't push his hands through the barrier.

"You could see our psynergy, then? That confirms it. Isaac, she's one of us," Garet called to the teen.

"Psynergy? You call that power psynergy?" Mia continued. Isaac gave her a look. She definitely could ask a lot of questions. They were justified questions considering her situation, but they were wasting valuable time.

"I'm surprised you don't know it already. It sounded like you could use it, according to that villager in the inn," Ivan finally spoke up. Mia looked confused by his words. "Ply? Isn't that psynergy?"

"Ply? That's a special power, handed down through the generations to the members of the Mercury Clan. It's a healing power generated through meditation," Mia explained. "Though according to my father, it was once much stronger."

"Huh. Hey Isaac?" Garet mused. Isaac glanced away from the barrier.

"What?"

"This Mercury Clan sounds a little like our village of Vale, don't you think?" the redhead compared. Isaac stopped to think about that for a second. Garet seemed to be right.

"It kinda does. We also protected an ancient power," Isaac replied. He used the past tense, since that ancient power was now in the hands of Saturos and his group.

"We can't waste anymore time here. I need to find Alex and hear his explanation for all of this," Mia finally said, hopping over the gap and standing in front of the barrier.

She extended her hand and rested her palm on the surface of the watery barrier. Unlike when Isaac touched it, the surface responded to her touch and began swirling down around her hands like liquid snakes. As the barrier continued to collect around Mia's hands, the doorway gradually became unblocked.

"That's not something you see every day," Garet commented. The barrier was now completely gone from the doorway, instead existing as a swirling ball of liquid on Mia's hand.

"It is something only Alex and I can do. It was a safeguard designed to prevent anyone other than the Mercury Clan from getting in," she related.

"I guess they never accounted for traitors," Garet remarked. Isaac shot him a glare and elbowed him.

"That was rude…she still hasn't accepted that fact yet," Isaac hissed. Garet shrugged apologetically. Despite Garet's tactlessness, Mia remained silent.

The group navigated into the Mercury Lighthouse at last. When everyone was through the door, Mia whirled around and cast the ball of fluid from her hand back towards the door, where it reconstituted itself back into the barrier.

The entry hallway of the lighthouse consisted of a simple walkway constructed of the same blue tiling, bordered by two water filled depressions on either side. The walls were magnificent, decorated with pillars and carved arches, all colored in shades of light blue and green. At regular intervals were carved depressions in the walls that held a sort of lamp enclosing a flickering blue flame, providing light for the group. Isaac had the sudden urge to feel the blue fire to see if it was cold, but he pushed that away. He hadn't the time to be curious.

"This place is beautiful…is this what the architecture of the ancients was like?" Ivan marveled. The teen cast his gaze around the room, his eyes wide with wonder. Isaac too was impressed. It was a shame that such splendor had gone to waste, to be sure, but the threat of Alchemy was too great. It wasn't worth the world itself.

"It must be. I've been in here once or twice with my father, and I've always been enthralled by the beauty here," Mia answered Ivan's rhetorical question, startling him slightly.

"Do you think there will be…" Garet began, but he was cut off by a loud hiss that echoed through the hall. "What in Kirin's name was that?"

The group stopped in its tracks, with everyone glancing for the source of the offending sound. The hiss reoccurred, sounding not unlike an angry snake, only more guttural.

"It's probably a monster," Isaac deduced, and he drew his axe and hefted his shield. Reoccurring thuds could be hear at regular intervals, signaling the approach of the monster in question.

"A monster? In Mercury Lighthouse? How can this be?" Mia asked, a look of fury crossing her face. "How dare it defile this holy place?"

Isaac watched as the girl readied herself for combat. She produced a staff from her robes, made of a sturdy iron material and tipped with a symbol similar to an ankh.

"Hey, Ivan, why don't you do that epic flashy thing with your rapier again?" Garet asked. His phrasing caused Ivan to raise an eyebrow. The teen drew the powerful rapier from it sheath, watching the light reflect off of the finely polished blade. Isaac glanced at it and was surprised to see it look so clean, despite the fact that Ivan had used it to slaughter a troll back in the Bilibin Cave.

"I'll try, but I don't think it works like that, Garet," Ivan admitted. The hiss echoed through the room again. The monster's pace had increased, indicating that it might have sensed the intruders.

"Of course it doesn't. Kirin forbid anything be that easy," Garet grumbled. Isaac motioned for them all to be silent. At last, he could see the silhouette of the monster. It was a large one. It was reptilian, looking similar to a common lizard, only larger than a man and standing on two feet. To his surprise, Isaac could also see makeshift armor made of twisted metal on the creature. If he were to go by the same explanation that had seemed most likely before, than this creature was just another example of why Alchemy must not be released.

Isaac removed his travel bags, deciding that it would not be a good idea to fight with that extra weight on him. He reveled in the lack of weight on his body.

Mia stepped forward suddenly, her psynergy surging and covering her in a raging blue light. She held her staff before her, rage covering her face.

"Mia, no!" Isaac shouted, but she was already moving. The light of her psynergy attracted the monster's attention, which screeched loudly and produced a large axe.

"Get out of my tower!" Mia yelled recklessly, and she thrust her staff forward. Snow and ice began to fall from the ceiling and whip through the room as if suspended on gale force winds. The precipitation pelted Isaac's face painfully, causing him to cover himself with his shield.

Shards of ice formed in the air above the tip of Mia's staff. By the way light reflected off of the tips of the shards, Isaac could tell that they were razor sharp. With a grunt, Mia sent the shards hurtling towards the lizard.

The monster hissed angrily and covered its face with its arms. The shards impacted with its arms, slicing into them and leaving minor wounds on its scales. When the creature lowered its arms, the first thing it saw was Mia, who had formed a massive spike of crystal ice, which was suspended in midair above her staff.

"Take this!" Mia shrieked, and she hurled the spike directly at the monster. To her shock, the lizard grabbed the spike before it could reach it. "W…what?!"

With a angry growl, the monster reversed the spike and sent it back towards the girl, whose face adopted a look of shock. She screamed and covered her head as the spike rushed towards her, threatening to impale her.

When she was sure that she was going to die, Garet was there. With a yell, the Mars Adept leapt in front of her and ignited, flames licking up and down his body with a vengeance. When the spike neared him, Garet gathered up all of the flames on his body and shot them all at once at the missile.

The lizard's tongue snaked out and tasted the air, it's eyes passively watching as the spike melted into nothing from Garet's heat.

"You trying to get yourself killed?!" Isaac snapped angrily, stepping in front of the petrified girl. The original group: Isaac, Garet, and Ivan, now stood in a line in front of her, protecting her from the lizard.

"Why…? Why couldn't I do anything?" Mia stammered. "I'm supposed to be strong…I'm the strongest of the Mercury clan…"

"And you thought Mercury based psynergy would work against an obviously Mercury based monster?" Ivan asked pointedly. Isaac said nothing, though he mentally agreed with Isaac. This was a very cold climate, so it only made sense that whatever monsters could live in such conditions had to be acclimatized to them.

"Here it comes!" Garet alerted them. The lizard lifted its axe threateningly and charged forward, its mouth opening in a roar. With a collective battle cry, the three adepts ran to meet it.

The lizard swung its axe to the left with a great force. Isaac couldn't do anything except block it with his shield. When the axe collided with the shield, Isaac's arm exploded with pain from the vibrations. The teen was sent skidding backwards and off of the ledge into the water.

The lizard brought its axe forward and down on Garet, who managed to block it with his own weapon. While it was attempting to force down Garet, the lizard swiped at Ivan with its free claw. The teen stepped backwards, narrowly avoiding the deadly claws. Ivan lunged forward with his rapier, hoping for another explosive burst of energy.

Unfortunately, nothing of the sort happened, and Ivan only managed to deal one minor wound on its arm before the lizard dealt him a swift kick to the stomach. Saliva flew out of Ivan's mouth as he gasped in pain. He fell to his knees, completely winded.

Isaac spluttered, spitting out water. He frantically tried to climb out of the ledge. He could see Garet attempting to hold off the lizard's axe with his own. The two appeared to be about even, but Garet was tiring faster than the monster was.

"So…heavy…" Garet grunted. An idea suddenly came to the redhead's mind, and a grin crossed his face. "FORGE!"

Flames erupted from Garet's axe, increasing the amount of force behind his attack. The lizard hissed in surprise as its axe was forced away by Garet's renewed strength.

Mia was suddenly there in Isaac's vision, grabbing onto his hand and helping him back up onto the walkway. He nodded briefly in thanks and rushed forward to rejoin the fight.

"Not so tough now, huh?!" Garet taunted. With Forge's help, he was able to fight on par with the lizard's strength. When Isaac and Ivan recovered and returned to battle the monster, the lizard began retreating backwards, frantically trying to fend off the three adepts.

Isaac yelled wordlessly, bringing his axe down and cutting into the monster's side. Ivan managed to inflict several light wounds with his rapier. Garet, however, was planning to finish the battle himself.

"Fever, now's the time!" the redhead roared. Isaac heard him and was confused. Fever?

Reddish, translucent smoke swirled out of the air and spun around Garet's axe like a miniature tornado. Isaac watched as Garet slammed his axe into the lizard's torso.

The same red smoke exploded from the impact and obscured the lizard's form, but a pained shriek could be heard from the monster. Garet chose then to drop his axe and shield, balls of fire forming in each of his palms.

"Eat it!" the redhead commanded, and began thrusting his arms forward, alternating between left and right. Each time his hand would go forward, he would release a searing fireball that flew into the smoke and collided with the monster.

"In…incredible…" Mia, who was now standing near Ivan watching Garet attack, whispered to herself. "He's so strong!"

"Don't let him hear you say that," Ivan remarked with a wry grin on his face. "It'll go straight to his head."

Garet ceased his attack, watching the reddish smoke that obscured the form of the lizard. He retrieved his weapon and shield, eyes straining for any sign of movement.

"Did you get him?" Isaac asked, stepping next to his friend. The redhead shrugged, not saying anything.

When the smoke cleared, the monster was revealed. There was nothing left of it other than a charred skeleton with blackened metal fused to the shoulder blades.

"Booya! Couldn't take the heat, could you?! YAHOO!" Garet celebrated, throwing his arms in the air. Isaac sighed and let his face fall into his hand. Any amount of awesome that the redhead had been was now gone in the wake of his silly posing.

Mia giggled at Garet's antics as she returned her staff to her back. Ivan heard her and his eyes went wide.

"Isaac…" Ivan began in a halting tone. Isaac went alert, his fist clenching around the handle of his axe.

"What is it, another monster?" he whispered. Ivan shook his head, instead pointing at Mia with a shaking finger, a look of mock terror on his face.

"She finds Garet funny!" the teen told him. Isaac realized that he was right, and deciding to allow himself one moment of merriment, groaned in despair.

"I guess someone has to," Isaac muttered.

The group reconvened at the exit of the hallway, ready to continue onwards. However, Isaac had a few words to say to Mia.

"You need to learn _when _to use your psynergy. Using that much Mercury based psynergy against a Mercury based monster is not only useless, it is also an unnecessary drain on your psynergy," Isaac lectured her. Mia looked genuinely apologetic, her eyes shining with regret.

"I'm sorry…I…I just didn't want to see that thing defiling this tower with its presence," Mia replied haltingly, gazing at the skeleton of the lizard monster.

"I understand that, but getting yourself killed isn't a good way to fix that," Isaac shot back. "You see Garet? He did so much damage because Mars and Mercury, or fire and water, are opposing elements."

"Looks like someone listened to my explanation back at the cave," Ivan commented, smiling.

"Wait, doesn't water put out fire? How does it work both ways?" Mia inquired curiously. Isaac shook his head.

"No. Let me explain it to you like this. Fire needs air to burn. The better the air quality, the hotter the flame," Isaac began. Garet listened to his explanation with a proud look on his face.

"Uh-huh," Mia acknowledged, waiting patiently for Isaac to continue.

"Water has no effect on fire realistically speaking, unless there is enough of it to cut off the fire's air supply. So, in simple terms, enough water will douse fire, provided there's enough to smother it. Alternatively, enough fire will evaporate water to nothing. It's a double edged sword," Isaac continued. Understanding began to dawn on Mia's face.

"So…Garet could do more damage to Mercury based monsters, but they could do more damage to him in return?" the girl hypothesized. Isaac smiled, glad that she understood.

"Now you got it. For now, we need you in a supportive role, since I'm sure there are nothing but Mercury based monsters in this place," he informed her. "That Ply psynergy of yours sounds like it could be really useful to us."

"That reminds me!" Mia exclaimed suddenly. "Are any of you hurt? My…Djinni…has the ability to heal wounds, along with my Ply."

"I'm still a little winded, but nothing serious," Ivan replied. "Garet?"

"I'm in top condition! No lizard can hurt me!" the redhead boasted. Ignoring him, Ivan looked at Isaac.

"I'm soaked, but other than that I'm fine," Isaac remarked. As he said that, a blast of extremely hot air buffeted Isaac, drying his clothes instantly. "Ah, what the hell!?"

"And now you're dry. Don't you love me?" Garet joked. Isaac gave him a disbelieving look.

"Really? You're…just gonna waste psynergy?" the Venus Adept questioned in a low voice. Garet pretended to look offended, turning his nose up in the air.

"Fine, I won't help you next time," he asserted. Isaac ignored him and instead turned his gaze to the path ahead.

"We should keep moving. Mia, do you know the way?" the teen asked, turning to the girl.

"I…sort of. I haven't been here for years – not since my father died," Mia admitted. Isaac nodded, though he inwardly sighed. So much for the easy way through.

"I see. Let's go then," Isaac affirmed. They began to walk through the hallway, and then they exited the long hallway through a lone door on the other end.

The room beyond was significantly more spacious than the hallway. It consisted mostly of a large pool of water in the center of the room. Tiled walkways stretched along the edge of the pool, splitting into two before exiting the room through two separate doorways – one on either side of the room. The most striking feature of the room was the huge carved statue adorning the far wall.

The statue was of the upper half of a serene female figure dressed in regal looking robes. Its hands were clasped together in front of it, white fingers interlocked with one another. There was a sizeable blue gem planted in the statue's bosom. It was slightly luminous, as Isaac could see the pulsing blue glow from here.

"What. Why are there no males?!" Garet demanded once again, earning a giggle from Mia. "What are they, matriarchal?"

"Maybe they were. Perhaps their gods were all female," Ivan suggested. Garet didn't look convinced, but he let it drop.

Isaac walked forward and examined both paths that lay before them. He couldn't see what lay beyond either of the two exits, so he would be forced to make a decision.

"Perhaps we should split up. The way through could be in either of those doors," Isaac proposed. Garet immediately sidled over to Mia, though she didn't notice. Isaac saw and gave him an incredulous look.

"There's no need. I do remember that both of those paths lead to the same place." Mia's declaration caused Garet to give her such a pathetic look of longing, that Isaac had to stifle a laugh.

"All right then. Let's get a move on," Isaac responded. The teen turned down the right path for no adequate reason. It really didn't matter which way he chose.

The next room wasn't much longer than the last, but it certainly was wider. Like Mia had said, the two paths met up in the center to go through a single exit. Two pools of water – one on either side- bordered the single pathway. Isaac, upon glancing across the water, could see alternate paths out of the room.

"What now, Mia? Should we head through this doorway, or swim across to the other exits?" Ivan asked the Mercury Adept. Mia glanced between the exits, as if trying to remember which way was the right one.

"I can't remember correctly, but I remember that you can't swim across these pools. The water is too thin to retain any buoyancy," she explained. Garet blinked, not understanding.

"Water? Too thin? How does that stop you from swimming?" the redhead questioned. Isaac got the gist of what she was trying to say, though it was hard to imagine.

"I don't know how to explain any more, but trust me – you will drown if you try to swim," Mia elaborated. Garet sighed and turned back towards the exit to the room.

"That makes things easy though. Only one way out," Ivan pointed out. Isaac nodded and walked through the door into the next chamber of the lighthouse.

Isaac walked into the room and looked around the huge room in awe. The room was nothing but a few platforms of blue tile suspended in an extensive lake that spanned most of the room. A central pillar stood in the center of the room, probably extending all the way to the summit. Small platforms large enough to hold one person standing with his feet together were scattered throughout the room in an irregular pattern, which reminded Isaac an awful lot of…

"Son of a bitch," Garet groaned mournfully when he saw the room before them. "It's Sol Sanctum all over again."

"Ha! You're right," Isaac agreed, remembering the horrible amount of hopping they had had to do back at his hometown.

"That's the place that held the Elemental Stars, right?" Ivan queried, joining them by the edge of the small platform that housed the door they came in through. Isaac nodded in response to his question.

"Want to fill me in? I'm rather clueless here," Mia implored, following behind Ivan. She apparently hadn't heard what they were talking about.

"That's right, you know practically nothing about why we're here, other than to stop Saturos and Menardi," Garet recalled.

"Both of whom I've never heard of," Mia added. Isaac ignored both of them, stepping closer to the edge. The only path forward was across a short stretch of water to the central platform, which housed the pillar. He could see a staircase cut into the pillar, ascending upwards in a spiral pattern.

"We can tell you after we beat them," Isaac declared, gaining everyone's attention again. As they watched, he hopped from the platform to one of the small platforms directly in front of him. Thankfully, it was sturdy under his feet when he landed.

Before he lost his balance, he hopped again to the central platform, next to the pillar.

"Do you want to wait for the rest of us?" Garet commented, following him across the water. "Damn, I hate hopping!"

"It's actually quite fun!" Ivan denied the redhead, jumping after them easily. Mia, being as graceful as a swan, practically danced on the tiny platform after hopping to it, and then joined them on the other side.

"Show-off," Garet remarked. Mia laughed, slightly embarrassed. She ran a hand through her hair.

"Don't pick on Mia just because you jump like a cripple," Isaac jeered in good humor. Garet gained an indignant expression and shoved the teen playfully.

"I didn't see you doing that well, either!" the redhead countered, but Isaac was already climbing the stairs.

"Can't hear you, don't care," the teen quipped. Garet sighed and joined the group as it traveled up the spiral staircase to the next floor of the lighthouse.

Isaac had hoped that this statue would have taken them straight to the top of the lighthouse, but he soon found out that wasn't the case. The staircase took them up one level before depositing them into a hallway similar to the one at the beginning of the lighthouse.

"I expected some more puzzles, you know?" Garet mentioned. He walked down the hallway with Isaac, with Ivan and Mia not far behind. "Remember Sol Sanctum? How if you hopped wrong, you had to go back?"

"Don't forget the minotaur statues. That was more of a puzzle than the hopping was," Isaac reminded him. Garet acknowledged his statement with a nod, while he tried to remember more.

"Then there was the killer trap thing. Saturos and Menardi set that thing off, I remember. That's the whole reason we're here," he continued. Isaac scowled darkly. Saturos and Menardi had caused the giant storm that had ruined his life. It was just another of the reasons he wanted to end their lives.

"So I was thinking that this lighthouse would be harder somehow. But nothing but a single monster. It's rather anticlimactic," the redhead commented.

"You talk about this like it's supposed to be some kind of story," Ivan observed, rather acutely. "If it's anticlimactic, then it's easier than you expected. Shouldn't you be grateful that we can reach our targets easier?"

"I guess. I just expected a challenge, is all," Garet admitted. Isaac was just about to agree with him when he discovered that their path forward was now blocked.

The hallway they were in was two tiered, with the wall turning away from their right to reveal a lower section of the room. This effectively turned their path into a ledge.

The tiling was shattered in the center of the room, creating a pit too large to be jumped over. On the other side of the pit was another statue of a woman holding a jar, which prevented them from being creative.

"Garet, you spoke too soon. We'll have to get creative to get across here," Isaac alerted. The group came to a halt just before the pit.

"Can't we just move aside the statue with our psynergy and leap across?" the redhead suggested. Ivan peered at the pit and shuddered.

"Yeah, you and Mia may be able to jump this thing, but I'm not that fit," he admitted. Isaac noted that he hadn't been included. Though he already knew he couldn't jump that far.

"Can't you just pull the statue into the gap, and use it as a stepping stone?" Mia suggested after she had surveyed the obstacle? Isaac, Garet, and Ivan looked at her in silence for a few seconds.

"That's actually good idea," Garet remarked. Isaac nodded and approached the ledge, already readying his psynergy.

"What, I can't have good ideas?" Mia demanded accusingly, jabbing Garet in the chestplate with her finger. He raised his hands in surrender.

"What can I say? Usually it's Isaac and I doing all the thinking," the redhead defended. Ivan cleared his throat, cutting in at that moment.

"And by that, he means he smashes things while Isaac and I do the thinking," he corrected humorously. Mia giggled at the look on Garet's face.

Isaac soon had the statue firmly in the grasp of the ghostly hand, and with a jerk of his hands, the statue lurched forward and fell base first into the gap, effectively bridging it.

"Good job, Isaac. Let's keep going," Mia complimented, and she leapt across the gap, as graceful as always. Ivan followed her, gingerly stepping on the statue's head.

When Isaac crossed the gap using the statue, he began to hear a strange sound. It was like a constant crashing sound, that sounded similar to…

"Garet, do you hear a waterfall to me?" Isaac speculated, catching up to Ivan and Mia. Garet was right behind him, listening hard.

"You're right, it does sound like a waterfall. Strange," he agreed. As they approached the doorway into the next room, Ivan added his input into the convseration.

"It's not that odd. All of this water has to come from somewhere, after all," the teen objected.

"This is the farthest I've ever been. I don't know what lies ahead," Mia admitted, joining in. After hearing that, Isaac stepped past Mia and took the lead again.

"I'll take point then. Garet, back up the rear. I need someone I can rely on watching our backs," Isaac directed. Garet did as he was told, but not before commenting.

"Can I get that in writing?" he joked.

"Garet…"

"I know, I'm going." The group passed through the doorway into the next room, where the source of the falling water was easily discerned.

The path took a ninety degree turn to the right, but was similar to the recent pathways. The major differences were the fact that the floor was no longer tiling. In this pathway, the floor now consisted of a lattice of metal beams that formed a grate.

The most noticeable differences were the three large waterfalls pouring from gaps in the ceiling until they hit the floor, where they drained through the grate and most likely flowed to the other rooms.

"This place is more advanced than I thought. This grate suggests that this place has a sophisticated plumbing system. Did people live here?" Ivan noted. Isaac peered into the grate himself, noticing the different pipes that probably led to other rooms.

"Who knows? Though I do know Vale didn't have anything like this," he replied.

"There doesn't seem to be anything in this room. Come on," Mia pleaded. Isaac nodded and continued past the waterfalls towards the exit.

When Isaac entered the next room, he was surprised to see that the room was much less elegant than the rest of the lighthouse. For one, there was less blue tiling for floor, and more grating. The second issue was all of the…

"Pipes! Look at all of them!" Mia gasped. She looked around the room in awe. Garet walked up to one of the massive pipes that spread throughout the entirety of the huge room they were in and tried to peer over it.

"No good. I can't see what's over it," he called to the rest of them. Isaac walked forward to search for a way forward, but found their path blocked by another of the large pipes, but this pipe seemed out of place. Unlike the other pipes, this one was positioned in such a way that Isaac could see right through it.

"Here's your puzzles, Garet," he mentioned to his friend, who just scoffed in annoyance.

"Can we just crawl through that pipe?" Ivan suggested. Isaac thought this to be a viable solution, so he walked up the offending pipe to inspect it. However, the pipe was deceivingly large on the outside. The metal walls of the pipe were extremely thick, possibly a foot and a half of sheet metal.

"I don't think so. The pipe is much smaller on the inside than you'd think," Isaac related his observations to them reluctantly. Disbelieving, Garet stalked over to the pipe to take a look for himself.

"What?! Why…why would you _make _a pipe like this?!" the redhead complained loudly. He tried to fit himself through it, but couldn't get anything more than his head inside.

"I think that these pipes were made to pressurize water and move them along at higher speeds than normal," Mia suggested, joining them by the pipe. Isaac glanced at her in surprise.

"How do you work that out?" he asked incredulously. Her explanation had made no sense to him. She blushed under his gaze after a few seconds.

"It's just a guess," she stammered. Isaac sighed and turned back to the pipe. He looked around, but saw no way to move the pipe.

"Look here! There's a small gap between this pipe and the one to our right," Ivan informed everyone. Isaac looked at the gap in question and deemed it large enough for the four of them to stand shoulder to shoulder without protruding out of the gap.

"We could try pushing it," Mia chimed in. She moved into the gap and began pushing on the offending pipe. She wrinkled her brow in exertion, but she couldn't find enough strength or leverage to move it on her own.

"Maybe the four of us could do it. Garet, Ivan?" Isaac claimed. Once he confirmed that his friends had heard him, Isaac joined Mia on the other side of the pipe and began pushing on it as well.

At first, Isaac couldn't get it to budge. Even with him and Mia pushing together, the pipe didn't want to move. The addition of Ivan helped, but not by much. It was only when Garet added his strength to theirs did the pipe finally begin to roll.

Once it started rolling, it was an easy matter to push the pipe out of the way. The pipe seemed to click into place once it was in line with the other pipe that blocked any further passage to the left. In fact, the pipe began vibrating once it was in place, suggesting that water was now shooting through it once more.

"Crap, I think we fixed whatever system was here," Garet deduced. Isaac had to admit that he was right.

"That's not good. We don't want this place to work right," Ivan worried, moving past the pipe to see what was ahead.

"It doesn't matter now. Once we reach the summit, it won't matter what pipe goes where," Isaac asserted. He passed Ivan and proceeded down the now open path.

The pipe to his right soon took a sharp curve to the left, forming a T-intersection with Isaac's path, a path up ahead and to the right, and a final path up ahead and to the left. The pipe then ended, tapering into a point. At the tip of the point was a small hole, from which an incredibly powerful stream of pressurized water was shooting forth.

"Which way do we go?" Ivan questioned, peering ahead. Garet and Mia soon joined them by the intersection.

"I think the path to the left is a dead end," Isaac conjectured after he had taken a peek. "So we'll head to the right. Bad thing is, we'll be forced to get a little wet."

"Great, because I totally need my psynergy weakened," Garet complained, stepping forward. "I might as well be the first."

"Be careful. We don't know what's around the corner," Mia warned him. Garet waved away her warnings and stepped forward, a broad grin on his face.

"Nah, I got this. No monster will sneak up on me!" he boasted, and then he tried to push his way through the water jet.

The second the water came into contact with him, Garet was shot down the left path like a rocket, propelled by the incredible pressure exerted on him by the water.

"Whooooooa!" Garet yelled just before he went out of sight down the left path. A loud clang could be heard as the redhead landed on his shield. "…ow…"

"Garet!" Isaac shouted, alarmed for his friend's safety. He stepped as close as he could to the water jet as he could without being similarly propelled away.

"I was right, I guess," Mia noted.

"I'm okay! Except for my ass…" Garet groaned from the left passage. Isaac sighed in relief, though he made no attempt to go to his friend. He didn't want them all to be trapped in what he believed to be a dead end.

"Oh spare me," Isaac joked. Turning serious, he gazed at the water jet and tried to think of a way to block it off. "We need a way past this."

"Stay there, will you? There's another path back here," Garet called, his voice growing fainter. Isaac didn't know how far the path went or if it was dangerous or not, so he grew worried.

"Don't go too far! For all we know, you'll walk into a den of monsters!" Isaac hollered back at his friend. However, there was no reply from the departing Garet. Isaac cursed and reclined against the pipe on his right.

"Ugh, this is a waste of valuable time," Ivan growled in frustration, pounding his fist against a pipe. "Mia, can't you do something?"

"Like what? I can manipulate water to an extent, but nothing like that. I'm not that good at manipulation as I am at healing," Mia admitted. Isaac found that rather interesting.

"That's funny. I'm the exact opposite. I couldn't heal a thing, but my manipulation of earth is my strongest ability," he said. Mia glanced at him with a curious look.

"So, you control earth, and Garet controls fire," she recited to herself. Mia turned her gaze to Ivan, who returned it readily. "Ivan, what do you control?"

"Wind. My psynergy is particularly strong, since I'm not all that fit," the teen answered. Mia nodded and held out her hands, staring at them contemplatively.

"I've been meaning to ask you guys. What am I? You all seem like this sort of magic is normal, while I've been considered special all of my life." Mia created a small ball of ice in one of her hands. "Why am I able to do this?"

"Now's as good a time as any," Ivan added, turning to Isaac. "I'd like to know a little bit too. Tell us a bit about being Adepts, Isaac."

"Well, I was still in training myself, but I can tell you what little I do know," Isaac relented. Mia and Ivan gazed at him in anticipation.

"Well, as all children in my hometown are taught, Alchemy is the foundation of all matter. Everything, including you and I, is made up of a combination of the four elements: fire, water, earth, and wind," Isaac began, telling them the most basic thing that he had learned from Kraden back in Vale.

"Alchemy, although it was sealed away a long time ago, left enough of an influence on structures such as Mt. Aleph, psynergy stones, and these lighthouses such that they emit a constant source of latent psynergy," Isaac continued. His audience's attention riveted on him as he spoke.

"Mt. Aleph gave off psynergy aligned to every type of element, so everyone in my hometown accumulated this psynergy in their bodies, eventually allowing them to harness it and use it as a weapon. Since the psynergy back home was diverse, that allowed for me to become a Venus Adept, or one who controls the earth. Garet chose to become a Mars Adept, who can manipulate fire like second nature."

"What about me, then?" Mia asked impatiently.

"Since your clan lives near the Mercury Lighthouse, you have been infused with its significant psynergy, which was attuned to the water element. That makes you a Mercury Adept. I'm assuming the same applies to your clanmate, Alex," Isaac answered, and then turned his attention to Ivan.

"Honestly, I don't know how you gained your power, Ivan. I do know that you are a Jupiter Adept, since that is the wind element," the teen admitted. Ivan looked disappointed, but he remained silent.

"Then what is your objective here? You don't seem the type to interfere in clan affairs," Mia interrogated. Isaac was about to answer her when he heard a grunt from the other side of the pipe they had just moved.

"Garet?" Isaac called. He wanted to make sure it wasn't a monster that was waiting to ambush them.

"Yeah…" Garet gritted out, and then Isaac heard a groan of exertion. "It's me. Give me…a second…"

Isaac was perplexed. It had taken all four of them to move that thing, and Garet wanted to move it back to where it was all by himself? He was crazy.

"How did you get back there?" Mia called to him. There was no answer other than the sounds of Garet's physical effort.

"Garet, that pipe isn't going to move," Ivan informed the redhead helpfully. As soon as the words left his mouth, Garet let out a yell. A burst of fire erupted from behind the pipe, and the metal carapace began to roll, much to everyone's shock.

"Yes…it…IS!" Garet uttered stubbornly. The pipe rolled just enough for the group to see the redhead, whose form was swathed in a roaring inferno. With one last shout, Garet transferred all of the flame on his body into his right fist, which he then slammed into the pipe. The force behind his punch sent the structure skidding backwards until it collided with the opposite pipe, which is where it was initially.

When the pipe was no longer channeling water anymore, the high pressure water jet blocking their path to the right died down to a trickle, allowing them passage.

"Garet, you're a genius. How did you know to do that?" Ivan queried, rather impressed. Garet's show of strength was as awesome as usual, but the fact that he had used his brains was even more impressive.

"Well, I figured that since all the other pipes I saw branched off from this one, then if I cut off the water flow, the jets would stop," the redhead explained. Isaac looked at him dumbly.

"That's…unlike you," Isaac commented. Garet adopted a haughty expression, crossing his arms.

"Where's my compliment then?" he demanded jokingly. Isaac scoffed and turned the other way, walking towards the now open path. "Hey!"

"Nice job, Garet, that was some good thinking," Mia praised him suddenly, a smug look on his face that was directed at Isaac's retreating form. Garet looked dumbfounded that he had actually gotten a compliment, and then he realized whom it was from.

"HAH! Hey Isaac! At least _someone _here appreciates me!" the redhead bragged, and then scampered after his friend once he realized he was being left behind.

The path to the right led them through the maze of pipes and against the right wall of the room. To Isaac, it was much more comforting to walk beside a wall instead of a massive pipe filled with pressurized water. The way a simple jet of water had thrown Garet unnerved him.

The group came to another fork in the path. This time, they were forced to go back into the pipes again, with two possible paths to take. The first path went straight ahead and descended a set of stairs, which ran beneath the pipes for a short distance before ascending again.

It only took a quick look to the right to realize that the alternate path was a dead end, so Isaac directed the group down the stairs.

"Rather funny how these guys built pipes so huge, they needed stairs to get over them," Garet observed, gazing up at the pipe above him.

"I wonder what they do with all this water. Why do they need it to be pressurized like this?" Ivan mused aloud.

"The Ancients were brilliant. Misguided, but brilliant," Mia added. Isaac had to agree with her. It was their hubris that led to the world nearly being destroyed by their own power.

The group ascended the stairs again, and soon found themselves at the end of the pipe room, indicated by another doorway.

The next room was more like the other rooms they had been in, with simple tiled floors and water. They were standing at an intersection with paths leading to the right and left. The left path was much larger than the right; only the left was pockmarked with pools of water that partly blocked their path forward. If they went in that direction, there would be jumping required to bypass the pools. The right path was tiny, with barely enough room for two people to pass side by side.

"Ivan, can you head to the right and see if there's anything there?" Isaac asked. Ivan nodded and walked down the path in question, disappearing around a corner.

He soon returned, shaking his head. Isaac nodded, understanding that he must have found a dead end.

"In that case, let's head down this way. We'll have to jump over the water where the pools are thinnest," Isaac deduced. He was the first to reach the first gap, which he jumped easily and continued on.

"Freaking hopping," Garet grumbled, but he did the same. Ivan and Mia followed closely behind, each being careful not to fall in the water.

* * *

I hate to cut it off here, but a friend of mine advised me to just post what I had, since it was already up to 9000 words and I wasn't even close to being done with the dungeon. So hopefully, I'll be finished with the Mercury Lighthouse next chapter.

I don't have much to say, other than sorry for the wait. You know me, I tend to write my stories during my college semester, rather than during break.

Keelah Se'lai,

The Proud Quarian,

Terran34


	16. The Mercury Lighthouse Part 2

I'm back, for now. I've finally found some time between college and my other stories to continue with this one. I feel the writer's block, but I refuse to give in. Not when I'm so close to this epic battle.

So it will probably take this whole chapter just to get through the rest of this darn lighthouse. I will probably be changing a few puzzles inside, because they are insultingly easy.

Disclaimer. I'm getting really sick of writing these. Yay. I don't own Golden Sun.

* * *

Isaac bounded forward, swinging his axe ahead of him in a wide arc. The creature in front of him hissed defiantly, and then it was split asunder by the blonde's whirling axe.

Isaac yelped and ducked under the lunge of another one of the strange, tadpole-like creatures. Behind him, Ivan impaled the small creature in midair with his rapier.

Garet and Mia fought side by side against the horde of small amphibians. She used her staff to fend off her opponents, while shielding and supporting Garet with her own psynergy. Since the monsters were Mercury-based, like everything else in the lighthouse, Mia could do little but support. However, Garet was having a field day.

"One…two…three," Garet counted enthusiastically, adding one to his count whenever he would kill a monster. His axe danced and weaved in front of him, slicing into pieces any monster foolish enough to get too close. Therefore, the monsters began resorting to launching globs of an acidic substance from their mouths at Garet, rather than attack him directly.

"Uh…that's not good," Garet noted with alarm. He managed to dodge one, and to his horror, the substance ate into the ground like the acid it resembled. Garet decided against blocking the globs with his shield, and instead started running and jumping to dodge them.

"I can help with that!" Mia called to Garet. The redhead looked back, confused. She was a Mercury Adept, so it wouldn't make sense for her to…

Garet blinked as a sheet of ice, courtesy of the blue-haired Mercury Adept, blocked a huge glob of acid that had been heading directly for him.

"If my attacks can't hurt them, then their attacks can't hurt me!" Mia explained. Ivan, who was combating three more of them, smiled as he heard this.

"Sounds like you're learning!" he observed happily. Then, with a grunt, the blonde slashed wildly until the amphibians lay dead on the tiled floor.

Isaac was handling himself well, cutting down monster after monster. They were fast, but their attacks weren't particularly strong. His leather armor easily prevented their teeth from piercing his skin.

The blonde leapt backwards, avoiding the last group of monsters from mobbing him. Once they were all grouped together and charging at him recklessly, Isaac knelt down and slammed his fist into the ground. Spikes of rock, conjured from nowhere thanks to his psynergy, erupted from the ground and impaled each of the monsters from below.

"That takes care of that," Isaac declared. He turned around to see that Ivan, Garet, and Mia were finishing up their own respective battles.

Upon jumping over the pools of water, the group had found themselves in the middle of a room with a barred door. The puzzle to open the door seemed simple; all they had to do was pull a statue out of the wall and move it onto a button on the opposite side of the room. However, upon moving the statue away from the wall, Isaac had unwittingly uncovered a hole in the wall that led directly to the lair of these strange monsters.

"That was a waste of time. Let's finish pushing this statue and move on," Ivan suggested. Isaac nodded, shaking his axe until most of the blood flew off. Mia cringed at the plentiful pools of monster blood all over the room, but she said nothing.

"Allow me to do the honors," Garet volunteered. Isaac thought that was a good idea, so he stood aside and let the redhead work. It was only a few seconds before the statue clicked into place.

As they watched, the door split open, the halves of the door receding into either side of the doorway to reveal the path forward. Isaac didn't linger for long, and soon he led the group into the next room.

This room was extremely small. If Isaac had to compare, it was probably the size of the first floor of his house back in Vale.

In the center of the room was a considerable rectangular pit. Isaac walked forward and peered inside, only to see the floor not that far down. In the center of that small space of floor at the bottom of the bit was yet another hole, only this one was large enough to encompass one person.

"So in this room, there's a hole. And in that hole, there's another hole." Garet observed, stating the obvious. "I swear, if I go in that tiny hole and there's YET another hole, I will go insane."

"Weren't you already insane?" Isaac pointed out. Garet's response was to swipe at him playfully. All joking aside, the group pondered their next course of action.

"Well, we can't go back, so it looks like the only way forward is down that hole," Ivan suggested. He didn't look all too thrilled about that idea, judging by the pale coloring of his face.

"…and then through the hole at the bottom?"

"Yes, Garet," the blonde confirmed. Mia chose this moment to approach the hole herself. She circled it several times, while Isaac and the others bickered over their next move.

"I think this hole was implemented by the ancients to serve as a quick means of transportation from a higher floor to a lower floor," Mia deduced. She pointed over at the edge opposite the chamber's doorway. "See how that edge is slanted downwards, rather than ending at a right angle like the other edges?"

"I think you might be right," Ivan agreed. The blonde walked over to the slanted edge and tested it with his boot. His foot slipped, and he nearly fell, but he managed to catch his balance. "Yeah, this was definitely meant for sliding into that hole."

"Wait, which hole?"

"Dammit, Garet!" Isaac and Mia chuckled at the antics of their friends.

"Wait, but we don't want to go down. We need to be heading up," Isaac interrupted. Their quarry was trying to light the summit, not muddle around at the base.

"It doesn't look like we have much of a choice. There's no other way forward," Mia admitted. Isaac sighed and walked up to the slanted edge next to Garet and Ivan.

"Oh well, in that case, there's nothing for it. Bye now!" Garet spoke quickly, and then slid down the edge and into the hole at the bottom of the pit, whooping in excitement as he did so.

"Wait…Garet!" Isaac called in alarm, but it was already too late. The redhead disappeared from sight into the dark hole. The blonde sighed in exasperation. There was just no stopping that guy when he decided on something.

"I guess we better follow him," Ivan grumbled. He was the next one down the slanted edge and into the hole, albeit much less obnoxiously.

"Mia, you go next. I'll make sure nothing follows us," Isaac ordered. Mia nodded and swiftly followed Ivan and Garet. That left Isaac alone in the room, silence blanketing the room almost instantly. He shuddered, suddenly uneasy.

There was no sense in loitering about, so he stepped onto the slanted edge himself. Keeping both feet on the ground, he slid down the edge and fell straight down into the hole.

Darkness encompassed him the second he entered. He suddenly gained a slight sense of claustrophobia, as the chute he was passing through was very small. He could barely breathe due to the way air was rushing upwards past his face.

The breath was completely ripped out of his lungs when he plunged into freezing cold water that was in the chute for some reason. Adrenaline shot through his body. Had this hole been a trap? Were he and his friends going to drown, so close to finishing their quest?

His worries proved to be unfounded when he sank through the depths of the thing pool and exited on…the other side? Isaac looked down and yelped. He plummeted to the ground, which was not far from where he emerged. The first thing he heard after his impact was the sound of Garet laughing.

"Pathetic dude! A belly flop? Ha! I did better than that!" he bragged. Isaac blinked. He was confused. How had he fallen through water? A better question was why that water was not falling on top of him.

"That's true. At least Garet landed on his feet. Having an off day?" Ivan chimed in. Isaac ignored his friends and got to his feet. He looked at the ceiling and, to his surprise, saw a thin membrane of water swirling above him in the chute he had just fallen from. Interesting. The ancients must have incorporated some form of psynergy to prevent people from falling to their deaths when they tried to use these holes to get around.

"Isaac?" Garet prodded. Isaac sighed and glanced at his friends, and eyebrow raising.

"That was certainly an odd experience," Isaac remarked, continuing to ignore the jibes of his friends. Mia stood next to him, nodding understandingly.

"Yeah. I thought I was going to die there for a moment, and I'm the…what was it?"

"Mercury Adept," Ivan inserted helpfully.

"That thing. Yeah," she finished in a rather comical tone. Isaac chuckled and surveyed his surroundings. He started when he realized they were back in the room with the giant statue of the regal, female statue. They were standing on a medium sized platform directly in front of the glowing orb, which seemed much larger now.

"So, what do we do now?" Garet asked. He was standing at the edge of the platform, gazing at the large pool of water that surrounded him. He knelt down and stuck his hand in the water, only to withdraw it in shock at the way the water felt.

His question went unanswered. Mia and Isaac were standing next to one another, pondering why the hole had dropped them here, if there was nothing but a statue and no way forward or back. Ivan was inspecting the statue.

"Hey, there's an inscription here," Ivan spoke up. Isaac and the others sauntered over to the glowing orb to look for themselves. Ivan pointed, and sure enough, there was barely visible writing etched into the smooth, crystalline material.

"He who honors the heart of the goddess shall stand at the center of all, like a swan in the center of a rippling pond," Isaac read aloud. It made no sense to him, but by the thoughtful look on Mia's face, it meant something to her.

"Honoring the goddess…that sounds very familiar to what I do when I use my Ply…psynergy." She thought aloud. She walked up to the orb and placed her hand upon it.

"What is she…whoa," Garet began, but stopped and watched in awe as Mia glowed a bright shade of blue. White rings of psynergy traveled up and down her form as she focused her power onto the orb.

The platform upon which they were standing suddenly began to glow, emitting rays of red-orange light. They were barely able to take this in when the entire lighthouse shook.

"What the…whoa!" Garet yelled, and then the shaking floor knocked him off his feet and into the water. Isaac saw his friend topple into the water and reached a hand towards him.

"Garet!" Isaac screamed, horrified. Mia had told him that if you fell in that water, you drowned, since it was thinner than normal water. Knowing that, Isaac was afraid for his friend's life. Not long after it began, the shaking stopped, leaving the Adepts in varying states of confusion.

More confused was Garet, who was lying face down on the surface of the water. He groaned in pain, as his friends gazed at the spectacle in surprise.

"Ow…my freakin' nose…" Garet complained. Then he opened his eyes and found himself staring at the water. He instantly shouted out his shock and leapt to his feet. His tumble had knocked him quite far off the platform, yet he wasn't drowning. In fact, he was standing _on _the water. The surface of the water where his feet touched rippled normally, indicating that the surface had been disturbed, but not broken.

"How is that possible?" Isaac marveled. He walked up to the edge of the platform, but couldn't bring himself to touch the water. Garet turned around on the spot, wondering why he wasn't falling into the water. He shrugged and walked back across the surface and onto the platform with his friends.

"I have no idea how that happened, but it's epic," Garet stated plainly. Mia stepped over to the water herself. She reached down and touched it, only to find that her fingers couldn't breach the surface.

"Garet, didn't you touch the water earlier?" she asked all of a sudden. Garet blinked at the sudden question.

"Yeah, I remember it being all weird feeling, but it wasn't like this." He replied. Mia lapsed into silence. She appeared to be thinking hard about something.

"I think I understand. By using my Ply psynergy on the statue, I somehow made it so that we can walk on water," she hypothesized. Ivan raised an eyebrow.

"That doesn't make any sense," Ivan muttered. He turned the other way and sighed.

"Well, we are in the Mercury Lighthouse. Nothing about this place makes sense," Isaac reasoned.

"That's true," Ivan agreed. Garet, however, was anxious to move on. Before anyone could stop him, he jumped onto the water. His feet again landed on the surface as if it was more tiling. Garet turned back and gave his friends a wide grin.

"Whether it makes sense or not, at least we can get back to the original path!" he called.

"Garet, wait. We don't know how long this water walking effect lasts!" Mia called after him. The redhead shrugged and jumped again towards the tiled path on the opposite side of the room.

On the third jump, instead of landing back on the surface, Garet yelped and fell through the surface. The thin water did nothing to support him, and he sunk directly to the bottom.

"GARET!" Isaac yelled. Without thinking, he leapt onto the water himself. The surface supported him as before. The blonde jumped as far as he could each time. On his third jump, he landed on the other side. Isaac instantly laid himself down on his stomach and thrust his hand into the water.

Garet, who was standing on the bottom of the pool and holding his breath, saw the hand and reached for it. With a small jump, the redhead linked his hand with Isaac's.

Isaac, using all of his strength, managed to drag his friend out of the water and back onto the path. Garet spluttered and coughed, clearing his airway of the strange thin water.

"What the hell…I thought we could…" the redhead stuttered, glaring at the water, which glimmered and rippled innocently.

"I guess it doesn't last all that long." Isaac reasoned. He stuck his hand in the water. Sure enough, his skin broached the surface normally.

"I think it has something to do with this platform," Ivan called over from his position near the statue.

"That makes sense. Maybe the water-walking effect goes away if you get to far away from the platform," Mia added. Isaac and Garet watched them warily.

"Well, you can't stay on that platform forever. Come on." Isaac told them. He held his hands out, indicating his intent to catch them should anything go wrong. Garet did the same, only with a grin.

"Hey Mia. If you fall, I'll be more than happy to catch you," he offered. Isaac turned his head to gaze at his friend in disbelief. A groan soon followed.

"I think I'll pass. I think I can handle this," she declined politely. Isaac chuckled at the disappointed look on his friend's face.

Mia, as everyone was coming to expect, executed a series of graceful jumps, until she too stood on the opposite side. She adopted a triumphant expression, while Garet's just looked pathetic.

It wasn't long before Ivan joined them. With that ordeal out of the way, the group walked through the doorway to the next area. There were technically two exits, but this was the place Mia said they led to the same place. Upon traveling through the adjoining hall, the group found themselves back in the center chamber on the first floor.

"Great. So we're all the way back…whoa." Garet started, but then he saw that the center chamber was filled with red-orange light.

"Those platforms…there are more of them!" Mia exclaimed. Isaac looked out across the huge indoor lake that filled the center room and sure enough, there were more glowing platforms scattered throughout the room.

"This must be where the real puzzles start," Ivan surmised. "Look. Wouldn't it be challenging if we had to use the power of those platforms to cross the water, while at the same time keeping in mind how far away we can move before falling into the water?"

"That makes sense. Garet, you spoke too soon. Here is your challenge," Isaac replied. "And guess what! It's more hopping."

"Maybe so, but we're hopping across the _water itself _this time, so it's totally awesome," Garet answered humorously. Isaac sighed. With that, the group moved forward towards the central pillar. Instead of climbing the spiral staircase this time, they instead began inspecting the room for another exit.

In fact, there was one other exit to the room. If the group faced away from the central pillar, it was on the forward right corner of the room. However, getting there wasn't as easy as finding it. Between the central pillar and there, a random scattering of glowing and dull platforms bridged the way there. It would take some very strategic jumping to reach the exit without drowning.

"Each platform is the size of a single person, so it doesn't look like we'll be able to save one another should one of us fall in," Mia analyzed. Without waiting for approval, she hopped from the central platform to the nearest glowing platform. Then, she leapt from there to the water. Sure enough, it supported her weight readily. "Hm, if Garet fell in after three jumps, then I should have the same amount before I fall in."

Isaac, Garet, and Ivan watched in an awed silence as Mia smartly hopped across the water to the next platform. It was only a matter of time until she traversed the whole room to the exit. She waved from over there, gesturing them over.

"What, does she practice water hopping in her spare time? That was freaking amazing," Garet commented. Ivan ignored him and started his own journey across the water.

"She's a Mercury Adept. For all we know, she probably does," Isaac reminded him. Garet snorted out his laughter.

"How…did you make it look so damn easy?" Ivan panted as he tried to gauge the distance from the platform he was standing on to the next. Mia, who wasn't that far away from him, giggled.

"Don't hop to that one; it's too far. Head to your right, walk to that platform, and then head for that one," Mia advised him when she saw Ivan starting to move. The blonde halted and surveyed the area. To his surprise, she was right. With her direction and his jumping, he too stood next to Mia near the exit.

"You're good, you know that?" Ivan complimented her. Mia blushed and turned the other way.

"Garet, you go first. I'll start right after you, so I can catch you if you fall," Isaac suggested, back on the central platform. Garet nodded.

Fortunately, Garet and Isaac were able to reach Mia and Ivan without any trouble.

"You know, I think I preferred Sol Sanctum. I prefer falling to my splash, rather than falling to my death," Garet panted when he stood next to Mia. Isaac heard his comment and quirked an eyebrow.

"Falling to your splash?" Isaac repeated questioningly.

"Don't judge me! I wanted to keep my sentence structure the same!" the redhead defended himself, while Mia and Ivan chuckled.

With that ordeal out of the way, the group moved into the next room. Upon first seeing it, it was an exact replica of the triple waterfall room on the second floor, only with no exit on the other end.

Isaac walked near the three waterfalls until he was standing on the grate. The spray from the waterfalls pelted him, but it couldn't make him any wetter than he already was.

"Like before, there was no other path we could have taken, so there must be a way forward," Mia reminded them. Garet suddenly sighed and stood near Isaac.

"I swear, if this is as cliché as a door hidden by a waterfall, I'm gonna," the redhead began, and then he walked right through the center waterfall, seemingly through the wall. "What the…IT IS THAT CLICHÉ!"

"And as before…Garet solves the puzzle by acting like a moron," Ivan sighed. Isaac had to chuckle at that one. The group followed Garet through the waterfall and into the next room.

The path led straight ahead along the right wall of the sizeable room and into another room. However, that wasn't what stood out about this room.

There was a massive pit in the floor to the left of their walkway. It descended so far, Isaac could see nothing but blackness no matter how hard he looked.

There was another exit to the room, but it was on the opposite wall, across the huge bottomless pit. There were two platforms similar to the glowing ones back in the main room; there was one on either side of the room, closest to their respective walkways. However, these platforms did not glow.

"It doesn't look like we can cross over to that door for now, so let's just move ahead into the next room," Isaac decided. His friends agreed with him readily, so they moved ahead into the next chamber.

The purpose of this room was made glaringly obvious just by what was in it. A long pipe stretching from the opposite wall meandered through the room and into the wall closest to them. It was clear that the pipe was made to pump water into the previous room, into that dark pit. There was no other exit but the one they came in through.

"I think I understand. When water fills this pipe, it fills the pit with a large amount of water, activating those platforms and letting us cross," Mia conjectured. Garet walked forward along the huge pipe.

"Uh yeah, but the pipe is broken. Look, there are segments disconnected from it all over the place," he pointed out. Isaac sighed and moved towards the first disconnected segment.

"Looks like we have work to do then," Isaac pointed out. The group expressed their exasperation at the task before them, and then got to work.

It took all four of them to move even one pillar, so it was slow going. The first time they tried to move one of the segments, they discovered that moving it would block another segment from being moved. Therefore, they had to move that segment first. Once it was out of the way, the group moved the first segment into place.

The second segment of pipe they moved was easy to fix. Once the first pipe was out of the way, all they had to do was push the segment back down until it clicked back into place. The last segment was fairly straightforward as well. This one had to be pushed into the spot directly in front of the place where the water came out of the wall. Like the large pipe room earlier, this water shot out of the wall in an intense stream. Isaac didn't want to get too close to it, for fear of getting knocked unconscious by the sheer amount of force behind the water jet.

With the right amount of caution, the last pipe segment finally slid into place and locked there. Isaac collapsed against the side of the pipe, panting.

"Those pipes weigh a hell of a lot more than they should," Isaac muttered. He felt the water begin shooting through the pipe at his back.

"No kidding," Mia agreed, leaning on the pipe beside him. Garet scampered over and stood near Mia, looking hopeful.

"I bet none of you could have done it without me. I mean, I moved one on my own!" he bragged.

"That's true, but you don't need to rub it in our faces," Mia responded rather bluntly. Garet pouted.

"I was looking for more praise than that," he muttered to himself, earning a chuckle from Isaac.

"Hey…" Ivan suddenly said, his voice sounding rather strange. He was the one closest to the exit of the room. They looked at him. His eyes were wide and his face was set in a blank expression. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear wha…" Garet began, but then he too adopted the same expression as Ivan. He slowly walked over to Ivan. "Yeah…I do…"

Isaac grew worried. There was something up with his friends. He'd never seen them wear an expression like that before. He looked at Mia, who shrugged. Isaac sighed and walked over to his friends.

"What? What the hell do you guys he…" Isaac began, but then he heard it. He could hear a faint, haunting melody, but he couldn't determine its source. It was…beautiful. He'd never heard a prettier sound in his life. Isaac grunted as he started walking towards the room's exit. His head grew fuzzy, and he couldn't think of anything other than the beautiful song.

Mia was now alarmed. All of her newfound allies were shuffling like zombies toward the exit of the room. She too, could hear the melody that they were listening to. It was beautiful, but it wasn't something she'd lose her mind to. Why were the teens acting this way?

"Guys…stop and wait a moment," she spoke up. She ran up to Garet and tried to stop him, but he didn't seem to hear her. She tried to hold him back with her hands. "Hey! Don't rush in…"

That's when Garet lifted his arm and slammed it directly into Mia's chest, knocking her away from him and into the wall. Pain exploded through her body, and she let out a gasp of shock.

"G…Garet...!" she exclaimed. Now, she knew that something was definitely wrong. Garet would never lift a hand to her like that.

The men walked through the door and into the room with the large pit, following the eerie melody. Picking herself up, Mia ran after them, grasping her staff as she did so.

In the pit room, Mia was shocked to see that the pit was completely filled with water, even though it hadn't been all that long. However, that wasn't what really surprised her.

Isaac, Garet, and Ivan stood in a line at the edge of the pool, that same blank expression still on their faces. Floating in midair in front of them was the strangest creature Mia had ever seen.

It looked like a woman, from the waist up. Its lower half was in the shape of a fish's tail. Mia knew it couldn't be a mermaid from the stories, but she kept looking.

The creature wore a breastplate made out of a strange yellowish metal that constantly emitted a strange feeling of power, similar to how it felt when the teens would use psynergy. In its slender arms was a golden harp.

The creature's face and skin, although colored a unique shade of cerulean, were flawless considering its inhuman origin. In fact, Mia would be unable to tell that the creature wasn't a normal woman if its skin wasn't blue.

The creature sang beautifully in a language Mia couldn't understand, its eyes glinting menacingly at Isaac and his male friends. It strummed the harp passionately to provide the accompaniment for her lovely, alluring song.

When Mia ran into the room, the creature's red eyes shot to her instantly, glaring intensely. It knew she was there, but it made no move to stop her. However, its intense gaze seemed to warn her away from its prey.

If Mia didn't know better, she was looking at a siren. According to the old tales, sirens could lure in their prey through lovely song, stealing males from ships or from their houses and using them until they were spent, and then killing them. Mia never believed in their existence, but it was the only term she could use to describe the monstrosity before her. It would also explain why Isaac, Garet, and Ivan were completely out of it.

Mia dithered a bit, frantically trying to figure out how she could remedy this situation. She'd never experienced anything like this. She had peoples' lives depending on her before, but that was illness, and that didn't fight back.

She was spurred into action when she saw Isaac begin to walk towards the water's edge. She wasn't about to let them drown themselves.

"Snap out of it!" Mia shouted at them. She grabbed her staff from her back. A powerful aura of blue psynergy erupted from around Mia as she focused all of her anger and desperation into one massive attack.

A stream of solid ice materialized from the tip of her staff and shot forth at the siren. The creature saw it coming, but was unable to move in time without breaking off her song.

The stream of ice slammed directly into the siren's torso with incredible force. Its harp shattered into pieces, forcing the song to stop and pushing the siren back into the opposite wall.

Isaac, Garet, and Ivan immediately snapped out of their trance the moment the song stopped influencing them.

"Wha…what?" Isaac murmured, his head still muddled with the adverse effects of the siren's song. His vision soon cleared, and he saw the siren in front of him. "A monster?!"

"What?! Where?!" Garet forced out. When he and Ivan spotted the siren, they immediately drew their respective weapons.

The siren was less than happy at the loss of its prey. It's feminine mouth suddenly turned a shade of gray, and thousands of wicked teeth sprouted from black gums. The siren emitted a feral roar so shrill and harsh, that the group's ears hurt. A golden spear formed in the monster's right hand, and a golden shield formed in the left hand.

"Watch out! Here it comes!" Mia alerted the males. Isaac was now fully out of his trance, and he was less than happy at how he was manipulated. He drew his axe and woke up Flint in his mind. He wasn't going to hold back against this abomination.

The siren launched itself forward, its tail undulating. It seemed to swim through the air towards the group. With another roar, it was upon them.

The siren's spear arm pivoted back, and then jabbed forward at Isaac. The blond moved his head to the side just in time to avoid the attack. However, he was forced to do the same motion several more times to avoid the siren's follow up attacks.

Ivan yelled out his battle cry and charged forward to help out Isaac. Drawing his rapier, the teen leapt forward and tried to slash at the siren's torso. However, the creature swept its shield to the left, turning aside the blow and slamming into Ivan's middle. The blonde grunted and was forced back.

Garet rushed to Isaac's aid, as the teen couldn't fight back and dodge the siren's spear at the same time. The siren realized that it would be at a disadvantage if Isaac and Garet were allowed to attack it at the same time, so it swooped away from the two, bringing its tail to bear. Isaac's eyes widened, and then he was knocked backwards into the wall by a powerful blow from the tail.

Garet was the next to fall under attack. The siren zipped to the right, towards the pipe room, and conjured a cloud of deadly icicles from the tip of its spear. Garet saw the impending danger and moved to counteract it. He dropped his shield and shot fire from his fingertips in an attempt to melt the icicles before they could be used against him.

The siren shrieked loudly and thrust its spear forward. This one movement sent the floating cloud of icicles shooting down at the group like a hailstorm. Garet realized that the cloud was too dense for his flames to melt them all, so he turned and ran down the edge of the pool.

"This is not fun!" Garet yelled out as icicles rained down heavily around him. He turned and tried to attack again, only for an icicle to shoot down and sink into his shoulder. The redhead cried out in pain and clutched the icicle. Blood soon soaked through his shirt and started trickling down his arm.

"I'll heal this," Mia assured him. She ran next to him with her free hand outstretched. Garet watched warily, gritting his teeth in pain from his freezing cold wound.

The siren saw that its target was being attended to, and it swooped towards the two. Just as it was bringing its spear to bear, a flash of yellow light obscured its vision.

Isaac stood between the siren and its target. His axe was held out, the blades replaced by the power of Flint. The blonde's eyes narrowed in anger and concentration, and then he lunged at the siren with his axe held high.

The siren emitted a sort of rasping laugh and brought up its shield. When Isaac's axe collided with the shield, the siren's eyes widened. The axe shattered the shield into pieces and forced the creature back several feet. It shrieked and nursed its hand.

This bought Mia enough time to use her Ply magic. After extricating the icicle from Garet's shoulder, it was only a few moments before the wound had closed up.

"Thanks. Come on Isaac, it's not done yet," Garet finally said. Ivan joined them, having regained his breath at last.

Their respite only lasted a few seconds before the siren was back and ready to fight. It increased its speed suddenly and swerved in midair. Its tail slammed into Garet and knocked him back.

Isaac gasped as the creature grabbed both of Ivan's arms and lifted him clear off the ground. The teen screamed in pain and dropped his rapier as the siren dug its nails deep into his skin, drawing blood. It didn't stop there. The siren zoomed through the air until it was hanging over the pool of water. Isaac realized what it was going to do.

"No! IVAN!" Isaac shouted to his friend. The siren gave another laugh. It slowly released Ivan from its clutches, and the teen began to fall down towards the water. If he fell in that water, he would fall endlessly through the thin water until he drowned.

The siren didn't let Ivan fall. Instead, it swerved in midair and slammed Ivan into the ceiling with a quick hit from its durable tail. The blonde's cries of pain only served to make Isaac angry. However, he couldn't reach the teen at all.

That was when the siren moved to the side and let Ivan fall once more towards the water. Isaac suddenly realized that Garet was moving. The redhead immediately summoned a powerful fireball and hurled it as hard as he could. Isaac thought he was aiming for the siren, but instead, the fireball slammed into Ivan.

Isaac was about to scream at his friend when he realized that the fireball had borne Ivan all the way across the pool to the other side, where the other exit to the room was. The teen hit the ground hard, burns covering his body. Isaac could hear his agonized groans from here.

"That's it. I've had enough. This thing is going down," Garet growled. To Isaac's shock, Garet suddenly flew into the air, propelled by powerful jets of flame from his boots. The siren hadn't expected anyone to attack it while it was in the air, so it was completely taken by surprise when Garet knocked it clear across the room with a blazing right hook.

Angered, the siren hurled itself at the flying Garet, who was ready for it. As Isaac watched, the two engaged in a vicious melee. The siren would thrust and stab with its spear, while Garet would duck and weave, and then reply with a flaming kick or a punch.

The creature brought its spear forward in a horizontal swipe, intending to cut Garet through the middle. However, the redhead caught the spear by the shaft, a grin crossing his face.

"Take this!" he roared, and his free hand erupted into an inferno of crimson fire. The siren didn't have any time to react before Garet slammed a fist directly into its face.

Isaac readied himself as Garet's massive attack flung the siren all the way back towards him. Isaac sidestepped, avoiding the siren's body. The creature slammed into the ground, cracking the tile from the impact.

Now, Isaac summoned up his own psynergy. Sheathing his axe, Isaac raised both of his hands, focusing his mind on creation and manipulation. As he had intended, squarish pillars of solid rock erupted from the tiled floor and bore the siren to the ceiling. The monster screeched as it was slowly crushed between the rock and the ceiling.

Garet, who had descended near Ivan, watched as Isaac used his psynergy to shatter the pillars into pieces, and then sending the shards zooming into the siren's body.

As the creature roared in agony, Mia decided to use the newly activated platforms to jump across the water to Ivan. Placing her staff back on her back, the girl used both hands to direct the Ply psynergy to the fallen teen's wounds.

The siren wasn't finished. Despite being heavily wounded, it didn't seem like it was going to give up that easily. It levitated in the air just in front of Isaac. Its nose was broken and disfigured, and burns and bruises covered most of its body. Shards of rock stuck out of its torso, and blue blood trickled down and dripped to the floor.

Isaac realized his axe was still sheathed. As he went to draw it, the siren shrieked and zoomed forward. Isaac wasn't able to move fast enough, and he too was lifted up off of the ground. However, the siren wasn't planning on just dropping him. It carried him all the way to the other side of the room and into the wall. The impact jarred Isaac's spine painfully.

The siren then used its tail to pin Isaac to the wall. Isaac yelled and struggled as the creature began ripping and tearing at his chest with its nails. The blonde then realized that he wasn't being hurt. His leather breastplate was being shredded, but he was safe for now.

A bolt of powerful lightning slammed into the siren's side, knocking it away from Isaac and into the wall. Isaac fell to the floor next to Ivan, who was down on one knee, his palm still smoking. Mia was still healing him.

"This thing just doesn't want to die!" Garet snarled. The redhead extended a hand to Isaac, who took it thankfully. Once he was back on his feet, the two of them made eye contact.

"Let's tear this thing to hell," Isaac declared. Garet let a grin cross his face as he hefted his axe.

"Aye," he affirmed. The two of them lifted their axes high, and they charged towards the recovering siren while yelling their battle cries.

The siren looked up in alarm, and realized that it couldn't move away fast enough. Knowing that its end was near, it hissed defiantly for the last time. Isaac and Garet arrived not a second later.

Garet's axe turned bright red with the power of Fever, while Isaac merely used his own strength; he had already used Flint. Both attacks collided with the siren at the same time.

Mia and Ivan, who was now fully healed, watched in awe as red smoke exploded from the area, obscuring Isaac and Garet from view. That was Fever's effect. They watched, holding their breath, as they watched the smoke carefully.

Isaac and Garet emerged from the smoke after a short interval, both of them looking triumphant. Then the two high-fived happily. Ivan and Mia sighed, both in relief and exasperation at their antics.

"You guys worry me, you know that?" Mia chided them. Isaac didn't seem perturbed, while Garet just laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Not to mention you seem to be having a friendly fire problem, Garet."

"Hey! To be fair…the first time wasn't my fault," Garet protested. Mia giggled as she watched the two sheath their weapons.

"All right, let's get back to it. How's everyone's psynergy?" Isaac interrupted, his tone turning to business once more.

"I'm still all right," Ivan replied happily.

"I've got more than half," Mia added.

"Heh…I might need some more soon…" Garet admitted.

"No kidding. I'm not even going to guess how much psynergy you wasted by trying to fly!" Isaac snapped, though he was inwardly impressed at Garet's ingenuity. He would have expected flying from Ivan, but not from Garet.

"Yeah, you don't want to know. Suffice to say, I might need to take a backseat in combat for now until I recharge," the redhead replied.

"Aren't Saturos and Menardi Mars Adepts?" Ivan recalled. Isaac nodded in confirmation.

"So that works out then. You won't be able to do much damage to them anyway; at least not from psynergy," Isaac finished. "Now come on. Who knows how much time we lost killing that thing."

That's when Mia called from behind them, drawing their attention to the body of the siren. To everyone's shock, the siren's breastplate was completely unharmed, and it was still suffused with psynergy.

"Interesting," Ivan commented. He knelt down by the breastplate. Isaac inspected the breastplate with interest.

"Isaac, maybe you should try wearing this," Garet suggested, and then he pointed at the armor Isaac was wearing now. The teen looked down and realized that the siren had shredded his leather breastplate nearly in two. In fact, when Isaac tried to adjust his breastplate, it completely broke and fell off of him.

"Yeah, it seems I need a new one," he quipped, earning laughs from his friends. Isaac knelt down and grasped the breastplate.

* * *

Now that the group was fully healed and ready, they moved through the doorway to the next area. Inside the doorway was another spiral staircase that to their surprise and happiness went up two floors instead of just one.

The next room proved to be an obstacle. While there was another set of stairs at the other end of the room, there was a barred door in the room that was clearly important if its décor was anything to go by.

There was a pressure plate in the room, but even when all four of them stood on it, they couldn't get the door to open. Since there was nothing they could do, they moved on to the staircase, resolving to come back here later.

"No…not more freakin' pipes," Garet groaned when they entered the next room. Sure enough, the room was filled with more of the pipes that pressurized water. And as they expected, there were several pipe segments that were out of place.

"They certainly are consistent with their puzzles, aren't they?" Ivan remarked.

The puzzle in this case was that there was a small hole in the center of the room, but a strange fence made of the same material as the tiled floor surrounded it. In that boxed in area was a statue of a serene woman with an urn, identical to the ones outside of the lighthouse. Three of the massive pipes in the room fed into the area, where they tapered to a point. One of the pipes was already shooting out water so that the stream passed just to the right of the statue.

"I think I understand," Mia told them. She pointed to the hole. "I think we are directly above the room we were in last."

"You may be right. In that case, we should be able to manipulate the pipes so that the water streams will propel the statue into that hole," Isaac agreed.

"Hopefully then, we can use that statue for the pressure plate to open the door," Ivan finished.

Once they had come to that conclusion, it was rather easy to act upon it. While Isaac, Garet, and Mia pushed the pipe segments, Ivan would watch the boxed in area and alert them if the statue wasn't moving the way they wanted it to.

Eventually, after a lot of mistakes and pipe pushing, the pressurized water finally propelled the statue into the hole.

"…is it just me, or has there been a lot of falling in holes lately?"

"Mother of God, Garet!" both Isaac and Ivan snapped, while Mia laughed.

After a bit of backtracking, the group was happy to see that the statue had fallen through the hole and exactly onto the pressure plate. The door was now open. They moved through the door to find themselves in a long, winding passage. It had clearly been damaged some time in the past, as there were several points where the tiling was cracked and pockmarked with deep pitfalls.

At the end of the passage appeared to be a dead end, as there was nothing but a large silver statue blocking their path. However, as a similar block had been present at the entrance of the lighthouse, all it took was a simple Move to set them back on their way.

They passed through another room of little interest before they found themselves in a long hallway with a grated floor and waterfalls lining either side of the path, the water gushing through the grates and into the sophisticated pipe system that none of them understood.

"Whoa…far out. This totally tops the other waterfall rooms," Garet marveled. He walked ahead, followed by Isaac, Mia, and Ivan.

"I agree. This is one of the more serene rooms I've seen," Mia chimed in. Isaac said nothing, as he just wanted to be at the summit already. These puzzles and endless hallways were wasting his time. Thankfully, the lighthouse had not shown any signs of activity, so that must mean that Saturos and Menardi hadn't lit the beacon yet.

As they were walking through the passage, Isaac suddenly heard a low hiss. He stopped in place, wondering what could hiss so loud that he could hear it over the many waterfalls in this place. He didn't have to wonder long.

"_Whoa whoa whoa…stop. I know you heard that too," _Flint suddenly spoke, waking up from his deep sleep. Isaac's head turned towards the general area where the hiss had come from. His friends had obviously heard something too.

"Um…my…Djinni…is hissing at me," Mia suddenly said. "Isaac, what does that mean?"

"Looks like there's a Djinni nearby!" Garet exclaimed. Isaac heard the hiss again, and he tracked the sound to one of the waterfalls on his right. He motioned for everyone to gather around him.

"It's in here. Because we are in the Mercury Lighthouse, I think it's safe to assume that it is a Mercury Djinni," Isaac reasoned. "Mia, go ahead and try to touch it."

Mia nodded. She gulped nervously, and then she walked through the indicated waterfall and disappeared from view. Since he was already soaked, Isaac shrugged and followed her in. It wasn't long before Garet and Ivan did the same.

Mia was kneeling down next to the Djinni, which was identical to the one she had shown to Isaac earlier back in Imil. It didn't seem to be hostile, which was good. They couldn't afford to use any more of their psynergy until the final battle.

She tentatively touched the creature. As Isaac was expecting, it dissipated into orbs of blue light and "rained" down on Mia, entering her body. She squealed as it happened, but stopped when she realized that it hadn't hurt her.

"Sleet," she said suddenly. When the others looked at her in confusion, she clarified for them. "The Djinni's name. It's Sleet. I don't know what it does yet, but it's good to have another one, right?"

"Yeah. The more we have, the stronger we are," Isaac acknowledged. With the new Djinni in their repertoire, the group exited the waterfall and moved on.

After exiting the waterfall room, the group climbed another set of spiral stairs that went up quite a while before depositing them into another hallway. Similar to the earlier passage, this one was long and seemed to meander aimlessly through the interior of the lighthouse. Also like before, the floor was damaged and required careful navigation in order to avoid falling into the pitfalls to their deaths.

Eventually, the passage terminated at a doorway, which the group soon passed through. Then, they were in another waterfall room like the previous one, with waterfalls pouring into the grates on either side of the passage.

The exit to this passage was through another waterfall, a fact that caused Garet to complain about how cliché it was.

There didn't seem to be any more puzzles waiting for them, as each passage merely led to another passage, which Isaac noticed was taking them higher and higher in the lighthouse.

The group finally found themselves in a completely straight passageway that terminated in a huge arch. Through that arch was a thunderous waterfall, the thick curtain of water pounding into the ground and throwing up mist into the air.

"Oh, look! It forms a rainbow! It's so pretty!" Mia exclaimed, pointing. Isaac looked to see the rainbow of which she spoke. It was odd how vivid it was, despite the fact that it was formed through the light bending through the mist.

"I'm guessing we have to pass through that," Garet deadpanned. "I swear, if I have to go through one more waterfall, I'm going to scream."

"You do realize that this is the _Mercury _Lighthouse, right Garet?" Ivan pointed out. "The very element of this place is water. It only stands to reason that there would be water involved in puzzles and doorways."

"Would you _not _force logic on me when I'm complaining?"

"Then don't make your complaints so illogical!"

"I swear, you two. Can this wait? I think we're almost to the summit." Isaac interrupted. Ivan and Garet sighed and went silent.

With that, the group moved forward and through the pounding waterfall. The pressure from the water slamming onto their backs nearly forced Isaac to the ground, but he managed to stay upright long enough to get through.

On the other side of the waterfall was a dead end. Isaac stopped in his tracks and stared in shock. They had come this far, through all of those passageways, just to find a dead end? There was nothing in the diamond shaped room before him except for a single statue of a robed female figure.

"Is it…no, it's another female. Damn sexist ancients," Garet muttered under his breath after he checked the statue. This got a giggle from Mia, who was now inspecting the statue.

Isaac looked up and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw that there was no ceiling. Instead, the walls of this room extended a huge distance upwards. Isaac could see a small point of light at the very top of the massive shaft. If he knew any better, that was natural light. If that was the summit, how did one reach it?

"This can't be a dead end. We've run into tons of so-called dead ends here in this lighthouse, and all of them had some kind of hidden feature to open the way forward," Ivan reminded them all. Isaac nodded. He wasn't reassured, but Ivan was right. With that in mind, he began inspecting the room for a way forward.

"Hang on, there's writing here," Mia suddenly said, alerting the group. Isaac turned to see Mia gazing intently at the chest of the female statue. Garet walked up next to her and pretended to be seriously looking.

"Wow, Mia. I didn't know you were into that sort of thing," Garet commented, a mischievous grin forming on his face. Mia turned her head, looking confused. It took her a second to fully grasp Garet's joke. She blushed a deep red, both anger and embarrassment clear on her face. "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"Pervert!" Mia screeched at him, and then she smacked Garet hard across the face. Garet grunted in pain and reeled back, holding his face. However, his grin didn't fade.

"Totally…worth it," he said triumphantly. Isaac sighed and shook his head. Garet totally deserved that.

"Mia, tell us what you saw," Ivan interjected. Now that everyone was focusing, Mia slowly read what was on the statue's chest.

"He who honors the heart of the goddess shall stand at the center of all, like a swan in the center of a rippling pond," Mia spoke. She suddenly recognized the saying.

"Aha! You gotta do that Ply thing," Garet reminded her. Mia nodded and placed both hands on the statue, already summoning her psynergy. The second her hands touched the statue, the floor shuddered violently, nearly knocking Isaac to the ground.

The statue cracked suddenly, and then as everyone watched, the blue outer shell crumbled away to reveal its true form. It was actually a psynergy stone in the shape of the statue. As Mia used Ply on the statue, the psynergy stone completely refilled the group's power.

Then, the floor began to rise, carrying them up the huge shaft that Isaac had spotted earlier. Isaac suddenly realized that they were heading directly for the summit.

"This is it, everyone," Isaac growled. He drew his axe slowly, watching the light from the statue reflect off of the blades. He woke up Flint and Granite in his mind, knowing that he would need both of them.

"It all comes down to this. Are you ready?" Ivan added. The group exchanged nods.

"We'll never let them light the beacon!" Garet affirmed, drawing his own weapon. Ivan and Mia drew their own respective weapons, mentally preparing themselves for the fight that was sure to come.

Memories of his life before the storm rushed through Isaac's mind. He remembered the times he spent running around town with Garet, not a care in the world, with their parents laughing happily in the background. Jenna would always be with them, her smiles making the sun seem to shine brighter in Isaac's mind.

Memories of his father, Kyle, came to light. Isaac's eyes narrowed. He would never feel the warm embrace of his father after being caught in the rain on a summer evening. He would never see his mother smile and cook massive meals on the days Kyle had off of work. He would never play a simple game of catch with his father ever again.

Whose fault was it? Whose fault was it that his father, Jenna, and Kraden were all taken from him?

"Saturos. Menardi," Isaac growled intensely. The dangerous edge in his voice caused his friends to look at him with concern.

"I'm coming for you."

* * *

How was that? I knew it would take a whole chapter to get through the rest of this. It would have taken longer, so I compressed a few of the puzzles into one. Well, it would have also been much more boring if I hadn't included the fight with the siren.

I'm sorry, I was looking through the monster list for the Mercury Lighthouse, and I just happened to see the word "siren" on the list. So you know I had to include the obligatory monstergirl appearance. Though if I say so myself, that fight was one of my better ones. Especially since Garet went a little Natsu there, like he always does.

Anyhow, I'm going to immediately start writing the next chapter. The Final Battle is here! Shhh….you people who have already played Golden Sun. No spoilers. Haha.

Anyway, I didn't include shoutouts in the last chapter, so I'll put them here.

**Kinglumption: **First, as always, to write a review after the chapter is posted. I could set a watch by you. Also, I love how I wrote a few lines with Mia laughing at Garet's jokes and everyone is like *gasp* STEAM SHIPPING! Gah. You shouldn't expect any shipping's for quite some time, since this is early in the game. Not to mention Mia and Garet have no canon significant others. Well, there's only a few shipping's that I have set in stone, and that's IsaacxJenna and FelixSheba. I'm sorry, no one messes with those two.

**OMNISENSE95**: Come on, did you really think I'd forget about Sleet? No, I'm going to include every and I mean EVERY Djinni in this story, even if it kills me. But anyhow, thanks for the praise.

**Mr. E Box**: Gah! Here it is again! I post a single line where Mia laughs at Garet's joke…and blahblahblah steamshipping. Trust me that was the farthest thing on my mind when I wrote that scene. Not to mention ahemhem…THEY JUST MET! Lol. I'm not being snippy. I appreciate the review.


	17. The Battle for Mercury Lighthouse

OK, this will be a significant challenge for me as a writer. My longest fight scene has never been more than 2000 words, and since I want this to be chapter length, the fight has to be at least 7000 words, while allowing room for buildup and cool down. I shall use all of the DragonBall bullshit I've learned to make this happen!

Oh. And there's one thing I want you as readers to do while reading the fight. Go to . Find the Saturos battle theme. Listen to it on repeat. Like…nao. Do it. Do it or you will be forever tormented by pointless pms. And bad Karma. But mostly just pms.

Disclaimer: (sigh, freakin' disclaimers…) I don't own Golden Sun.

* * *

The elevator rumbled upwards. The light at the top of the shaft grew closer and closer.

The only sound that broke the silence was the grating of the elevator as it made its way towards the summit. No one said a word.

The elevator finally screeched to a stop at the top of the lighthouse, giving the group a view of the surrounding skyline for miles around. But the skyline wasn't what attracted the gaze of the group.

At the northernmost central part of the summit was a massive hole that was surrounded by more of the angelic statues that were scattered throughout the interior of the lighthouse. This only served to emphasize its importance. There was no doubt that they were staring at the unlit beacon of the Mercury Lighthouse.

The Summit itself consisted of a central, raised platform , with a walkway that surrounded the perimeter attached to it by marble staircases. There was no safety rail or anything like that along the edge of the lighthouse, so the group knew they would have to be extra careful during the impending fight.

The elevator that they arrived on was not on the central platform, but instead on a partition facing east, with a small catwalk connecting it to the central area. There was another similar partition on the other side of the central area, with another elevator waiting for use.

Isaac cared little for the details at the moment. All he could see was Saturos, who was standing near the beacon along with Jenna, Kraden, and Felix. Jenna seemed to hear the elevator arrive, so she turned her head to see who was coming. When her eyes alighted upon Isaac and Garet, her eyes went wide.

"Isaac! Garet!" Jenna cried out happily. She went to run towards them, only for Saturos to shove her back roughly into Felix's arms. Her brother held her there, despite her struggling. "Let me go, Felix!"

"I knew you'd follow us," was all Felix said. The man who had once been Isaac's friend stood there imposingly, his heavy single bladed axe clutched in his free hand and resting on the tiled floor. Saturos turned his head to view them, his expression not changing. He held out his hand, showing to Isaac's group what was in it.

Sitting on his palm was a glowing blue orb, which Isaac and Garet recognized instantly as the Mercury Star. That was all Isaac needed. The blonde hefted his axe aggressively and immediately launched himself off of the elevator.

"Saturos!" Isaac shouted until his throat hurt. Despite the yelling of his friends telling him to be cautious, all he cared about was snuffing out the life of the man in front of him.

Saturos didn't react as Isaac grew closer. When it seemed to everyone that Isaac's blow was going to land, the teen was blocked by another familiar figure.

Isaac gazed into Menardi's crimson eyes. His eyes narrowed with hatred as his axe grated along the blade of her scythe. She laughed scornfully and pushed Isaac back. As Isaac struggled for balance, Menardi brought her scythe upwards in an uppercut. Isaac managed to block it with her shield. To Menardi's surprise, he used his shield to knock her scythe away, and then lunged forward with his axe.

Menardi blocked the blow with her metal wristband, sparks flying from the impact. Even as Isaac's blow landed, she viciously retaliated with her scythe. Isaac was forced to disengage his blade and leap backwards to avoid the attack.

"So you're still alive, then? Did you come all this way to save Jenna and Kraden?" Menardi sneered, returning to a defensive stance.

Isaac saw Garet, Ivan, and Mia walk up next to him. He could see their determination in their expressions, and he felt comfortable knowing that they had his back in this momentous encounter.

"That's not all. We're here for the Elemental Stars!" Garet snapped. Mia, who had never heard them talk about the Elemental Stars, looked shocked.

Saturos regarded them calmly, ignoring Isaac's blistering glare. He watched the encounter with Menardi and his enemies, though he wasn't particularly worried.

"Come on, Saturos! Put down the Star and fight me!" Isaac bellowed, though he couldn't get past Menardi. Saturos turned his head slowly to look at the Elemental Star, and then he returned his gaze to Isaac.

Saturos smirked, and then he let the Elemental Star fall from his hand into the beacon.

"NO!" Isaac shouted, and he fling himself at Saturos, only to be blocked my Menardi again.

"You won't stop us, whelp!" she snapped at him, and then she brought her knee up into Isaac's stomach. The teen was forced back, winded. He was able to avoid her follow up attack by ducking under her scythe.

That was when it happened. The entire lighthouse began to shake, forcing the combatants to disengage and steady themselves upon something, lest they be knocked off of the edge to their deaths.

"What's happening!?" Mia screamed. She was holding onto Garet, who had linked his arms around one of the statues to prevent himself from being knocked over.

A dim blue light began to shine from the hole. As everyone watched, it grew brighter and brighter, until it illuminated the entire summit with an eerie shade of blue.

The shaking stopped all of a sudden. Isaac looked around for a moment, but that was all he had. With a sound of thunder, a huge beam of light shot straight up towards the sky from the beacon, and the shaking started again with a vengeance. Isaac was forced to his knees under the sheer amount of psynergy being given off by the light.

The light ascended so high, it reached the cloud layer. The clouds in the path of the beam were completely evaporated as it continued its inexorable path towards the heavens.

Even Saturos and Menardi appeared to be daunted by the incredible power given off by the lighthouse. Menardi managed to make her way over to a statue, where she too held onto it to prevent herself from falling. Saturos somehow remained completely still in front of the beacon.

Eventually, the beam of light dissipated and the shaking died down. In place of the beam was a rotating sphere of blue, watery light that levitated just above the beacon.

"No! We were too late! The beacon has been lit!" Garet cried in horror. Mia didn't seem to believe anything she was seeing.

"It…it can't be. No one can light the beacon without the Mercury Star," Mia expressed. Isaac glanced at her. He had forgotten that she knew very little about their quest.

"…That's why we came here, Mia. Those people stole the Elemental Stars from Sol Sanctum, on Mt. Aleph," Isaac told her. Her face quickly went pale as she realized the implications.

"I…I have failed in the _one _duty placed upon me by my clan. This is terrible!" Tears formed in Mia's eyes, her failure becoming painfully clear to her.

Menardi chose this moment to burst into triumphant laugher as she viewed the blue orb of pure Mercury psynergy. She walked past Felix and the captive Kraden and Jenna to stand in front of Isaac once more.

"I suppose you still think you can stop us, despite your failure here," Menardi snarled. Isaac got back to his feet, hatred filling his eyes. "Oh, I like that look in your eyes, boy."

"I'm going to murder the both of you…just like you did to our village!" Isaac roared. Menardi laughed derisively.

"Then I guess I should end you here, before you can do any harm," she replied nonchalantly, disregarding Isaac's threat. She brought her scythe down, and started charging psynergy in her free hand.

"Menardi…wait!" Saturos suddenly interjected, speaking for the first time since Isaac had arrived. The scaled woman glanced over at her partner, confusion filling her eyes.

"Saturos…they want to…" she began, only to be cut off by an impatient gesture from the man in question. Saturos walked forward, drawing his crimson blade. An aura of pure Mars psynergy began to emanate from him, raising the temperature in the air around him by several degrees.

"I know, Menardi," he replied softly. Menardi let the psynergy in her hand dissipate when she realized what Saturos was doing. That's when Saturos turned his attention to Isaac.

"You were lucky to survive the eruption of Mt. Aleph, and even luckier to survive your journey here," Saturos began. "You have endured so much, and you want to throw your lives away?"

"No. I want to end yours," Isaac snarled back at the scaled man. Saturos used his free hand to brush his hair away from his face, smiling at the teen's response.

"An impossible task, especially for one such as you," he responded, sighing as if in defeat. "Fine. If that's what you want…then…"

Isaac immediately took his attack stance, sensing that battle was coming. Garet, Ivan, and Mia did the same, each of them adopting their stances and preparing their psynergy.

"Your wish shall be granted!" Saturos roared. Flame erupted from under his feet, surrounding him with a burning aura. The warrior planted his foot and propelled himself forward. He was upon the group before they could fully prepare.

Garet was the first to be attacked. When Saturos appeared in front of him, the redhead swung his axe in a vicious overhead strike. Saturos easily saw it coming, and he caught it on his wristband and retaliated with a swift kick. The force behind the kick was so great, that Garet was sent reeling backwards.

"Garet!" Mia screamed as the redhead tumbled over the edge of the lighthouse. Fortunately, Garet managed to hold on with one hand. She ran to help him, only for Saturos to intercept her. A blast of fire erupted from his palm and collided with the girl. She gasped out her pain and she crumpled to the ground, nursing her newly afflicted burns.

"Saturos, do you mean to fight them alone?" Menardi asked, shocked as he watched Saturos fight. Isaac and Ivan prepared themselves and then teamed up on Saturos, unleashing several flurries of slashes and stabs from their respective weapons. Saturos was faster than any of them had expected, and he was able to use his sword and wristband to block all of their blows.

"I can't expect you to leave our hostages to help me, can I?" Saturos replied smoothly. He ducked under Ivan's next strike and slammed his elbow into the teen's stomach, winding him and taking him out of the fight for a few moments. This was long enough for the warrior to grasp his sword with both hands and attack Isaac viciously.

Isaac's hands began to hurt from the effort of blocking Saturos's powerful attacks. The warrior kept the teen on the defensive, so Isaac was unable to do anything to fight back.

"Well, no…but…" Menardi dithered about. She looked as if she really wanted to join in on the fight as well, but she obviously respected her partner's logic.

"Then head for the next lighthouse! Go! I can handle this all on my own," Saturos shot back. Isaac took the break in his concentration as an opportunity to attack back. The teen swung his axe forward, but no matter what, he couldn't seem to hit the man. Saturos's eyes narrowed and then he knocked Isaac back with a blow from the hilt of his sword.

Isaac managed to block the attack with his shield, but it left a dent in his bronze shield, while at the same time knocking him dangerously close to the edge. Saturos's palm shot forward, glowing with a familiar light. Isaac's mind suddenly shot back to that day three years ago, where Saturos had done a similar maneuver. He knew he had to act fast.

A pillar of fire erupted from the floor around Isaac, enclosing him inside. The walls of flame slowly began closing in on him, just like they had three years ago. However, this time, Isaac wasn't scared. He contacted Granite in an instant, surrounding himself with that protective barrier that had saved his life on many instances.

Saturos then turned his attention to Ivan, who was coming back to attack him. The warrior was sure that his attack had finished off Isaac, so he was taken off guard as Isaac appeared behind him.

"What?!" he grunted in surprise, but he managed to dodge the collective attacks from Ivan and Isaac. "Hmph. It seems you've improved since we last fought."

Over near the edge, Garet had managed to climb back up. He rushed over to Mia. The girl had just finished healing her burns, so she was ready to get back into the fight. They looked over at Saturos, who was easily fending off the attacks of Isaac and Ivan.

"Come on," Garet urged her softly. Mia nodded, and the two rushed back to aid their friends.

Saturos leaped to the central walkway and shot powerful fireballs down towards Isaac. Isaac managed to dodge most of them, but those that hit him were weakened thanks to Granite.

"Interesting," Saturos commented after noticing that his fireballs hadn't hurt Isaac all that much. He lunged forward, ducking under a bolt of lightning sent by Ivan, and moved to attack Isaac once more.

Isaac blocked two of Saturos's strikes, but then the warrior surprised him with a blow from his fist. Saturos's eyes widened as he felt his fist slow down upon meeting Granite's barrier. Even so, the blow still collided with Isaac and sent him back a few feet from the impact.

"As I thought. You have some sort of barrier around you, protecting you from my attacks. How convenient for you," Saturos surmised. His ability to think on his feet during battle surprised Isaac. He had knew that this battle would be hard, but this was much tougher than he had anticipated.

Ivan rushed back towards Saturos, accompanied by Garet. Saturos saw them coming and whirled to face them, though he did send a stream of fire towards Isaac to ward him off for a time.

Saturos blocked Ivan's rapier first. With his strength, the warrior pushed Ivan back long enough to use his wristband to ward off Garet's axe.

"Gah, why can't I touch you!" Garet growled in frustration. Saturos's response was to scoff and slash his sword forward. Garet's eyes widened, and time seemed to slow down as the teen leaned backwards in a last ditch effort to dodge the blade. As his eyes watched, Saturos's sword cut into his breastplate, leaving a gash across the front of it. Garet sighed in relief and leapt backwards to collect himself. That had been too close.

That left Ivan to deal with Saturos alone. The two engaged in a lightning fast fencing battle. Respecting Ivan's fighting style, Saturos switched to a weaker, but faster one-handed style. Ivan found himself hard pressed to keep up with the warrior's never-ending attacks.

A blast of fire slammed into Saturos's side, allowing Ivan to stab forward in an attempt to impale the warrior. Saturos, despite being hit with an attack, moved to the side so that the blade merely scratched along the edge of his armor. The fire dissipated from around the warrior, who looked amused.

"Did you really think that fire could…" he began, but then a torrent of ice and snow collided with him, knocking him off his feet. The warrior was sent clear across the central platform, but he managed to land back on his feet. This time, he appeared to be slightly injured. Slight frostbite appeared on his skin, and Saturos now looked angry. His eyes fixed upon Mia, who had been the one to hit him. She had finally realized that she had an elemental advantage against Saturos, and had attempted to exploit it. It had worked…somewhat. Now Saturos was pissed.

* * *

Menardi watched the fight for a time, looking satisfied at the performance of her partner. Once she tired of this, she walked back over to Felix. Jenna glanced at her with fearful eyes.

The warrior walked over to the other elevator that would take them to the base of the lighthouse, and then she beckoned to them.

"Come here," she ordered. Felix did so after a moment of hesitation, causing Menardi to smirk at him triumphantly. However, Jenna and Kraden didn't move. Menardi's eyes narrowed, and she visibly grew angry.

"Do you intend to defy me?! I should teach you both a lesson!" she snapped, and she brought her scythe ahead of her. She was about to move towards them, but she stopped herself. Even though Felix was glaring at Menardi furiously, it was the fact that Saturos would be disappointed in her if she harmed the captives that stayed her hand.

"Felix…I'd get your sister to obey me, if you intend to keep her from harm," Menardi finally said. Felix's eyes darkened angrily, but he knew that he had no choice.

"Jenna…please. Just…do what she says for now," Felix eventually said, acquiescing to Menardi's command. Jenna looked at her brother with shocked eyes.

"But…Felix…!" she began. Kraden sighed at that point, and sensibly moved over towards Felix. Menardi was glad to see that the old man saw reason, since he couldn't hope to escape from her, especially at his age.

"It's all right Jenna. We don't have much of a choice for now," Kraden assured her. Jenna looked down, disheartened.

"Why is this happening…?" she murmured, upset. She slowly moved to her brother, who embraced her. Felix's eyes softened as he looked at his sister.

"Isaac and Garet shouldn't have come after us. They should have known their quest was impossible," Felix said, half to himself, and half to Menardi.

"Damn right it was! Now Saturos is going to crush them!" Menardi affirmed with glee. With that, the group moved onto the elevator.

"Isaac! Garet! Stay alive, I beg you!" Kraden called to the teens, who were still locked in a deadly struggle with Saturos.

"Isaac! I'll come back to you, somehow!" Jenna cried, just as the elevator began moving. It wasn't long before they were out of sight.

* * *

"Jenna! Kraden!" Garet cried, and he ran towards the elevator. Saturos wasn't about to let that happen. He appeared near Garet and plowed into him with his elbow. Garet cried out in pain, but it only got worse when Saturos followed up his initial attack with a roundhouse kick. The redhead would have flown off the edge from that, but luckily there was a statue to block his flight.

Mia began to charge up another blast of psynergy, but Saturos now knew better. He swiftly bounded towards her, forcing her to abandon her psynergy and resort to her staff to fend him off. Mia was by no means a fighter, so it wasn't long before Saturos disarmed her and sliced forward. Mia managed to avoid death by sidestepping, but his blade still bit deep into her side. She cried out and tried to retreat, but Saturos was hell-bent on slaughtering her. He turned his sword around and slammed a series of punches and kicks into her middle, winding her with the first strike and causing her to see stars with the second. She began to lose vision after each successive strike.

"You coward!" Isaac screamed, and attacked Saturos from behind. The warrior relented his assault on Mia and turned his attention to Isaac. Saturos looked furious.

"I won't let that stand! What right do you have to call me a coward?!" he hollered. Isaac and Saturos's weapons collided with such force, that the vibration caused Isaac to shriek in pain and drop his weapon. Saturos grinned and seized the opportunity to bring his own sword forward.

Isaac attempted to block the strike with his shield, but Saturos used his psynergy to power his strike. Therefore, his crimson sword cleaved right through the shield, the useless halves clattering to the ground and leaving Isaac weaponless. What was even stranger was the red smoke that exploded from the impact, blinding Isaac utterly. It was very similar to the effect of Garet's Fever.

The red smoke didn't last for long. A gust of powerful wind swept it away, courtesy of Ivan. Thanks to him, Isaac was able to dodge Saturos's incoming attack by throwing himself to the ground.

Saturos stomped down with his boot, but Isaac rolled to the side to avoid it and then leaped to his feet. As the warrior zoomed towards Isaac, the teen summoned a spire of solid rock and hurled it at him.

The spire hit Saturos dead on, knocking him backwards and causing him to drop his sword as well. The crimson blade skidded across the tiled floor until it came to rest just next to Isaac's blade.

When Saturos recovered, the two of them found themselves in quite the predicament. None of them had a weapon. The two of them glanced at their weapons, and then back at one another. Then, as if they had planned it, both of them broke into a sprint towards their weapons.

They met halfway there and began to grapple with one another. Isaac swung his fist forward, but Saturos caught it and responded with his own, which Isaac caught. Glaring into one another's eyes, the two of them engaged in a battle of strength.

Unfortunately, Isaac was not as physically strong as Saturos, so the warrior gained the upper hand. Saturos, still holding Isaac's fist, ducked under the teen and then stood up, throwing the blonde onto the ground.

Isaac, despite the pain, acted immediately. He spun around on his back and kicked at Saturos's feet viciously, knocking him off of his feet as well. This gave Isaac enough time to run towards his weapon and pick it up again. The second he grabbed his axe, Isaac ran towards Saturos and swing downwards, hoping to end the battle right there.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy. Saturos rolled backwards and shot a stream of fire directly into Isaac's face. Granite's barrier helped block it, but it soon shattered under the pressure. Isaac's face was slightly burned, but he knew he was lucky.

Saturos seized the moment to grab his own sword, bringing the two full circle.

Mia was barely conscious near the edge, but Garet was tending to her with traveling herbs and some water. Garet knew that without her, their chances of winning would become very slim indeed.

"Come on…we need your power," Garet whispered to her. Mia's eyes opened, and she groaned out her pain. "I know it hurts, but we can't do this without you."

Mia didn't say a word. She lifted her palm, and to Garet's surprise, a Mercury Djinn formed there. The Djinni hissed softly, and then it levitated over Mia, raining particles of light over her body. The cut on her side closed up, and her bruises didn't look as angry anymore.

"You have a healing Djinni? That's so not fair," Garet joked. Mia giggled weakly. Garet helped her to her feet, and she went and grabbed her staff from where it fell. "Are you all right? Saturos gave you quite the beating."

"I'm…I'm all right…" she stuttered, though it was clear she was lying. Garet attempted to support her, but she waved him away. As he watched, psynergy well up from around her. It was a hell of a lot stronger than Garet had ever felt coming from her.

To his shock, he saw light front the rotating orb above the beacon trailing towards Mia, feeding her limitless power. Garet realized that since the lighthouse matched her element, she was much stronger than before.

Another Mercury Djinni formed just above her staff. Garet recognized it as Sleet, the one she had claimed inside the lighthouse itself.

"Hyah!" Mia yelled, and huge shards of ice formed in midair, courtesy of the Djinni. She thrust her staff forward, and the shards went shooting towards Saturos at an incredible speed.

Saturos was busy contending with Isaac and Ivan. Without his shield, Isaac had resorted to holding his axe with both hands. It gave him more power, and it made it easier to block Saturos's blows.

While Isaac would rely on hard, fast swings, Ivan would dance around Saturos and stab relentlessly, almost like a hornet. Although surrounded, Saturos again showed his skill by switching to the one handed style. With this style, he blocked or redirected Isaac's blows. With his free hand, Saturos would use blasts of flame to prevent Ivan's rapier from touching him.

That's when Saturos noticed the ice coming at him out of the corner of his eyes. His eyes widened, and he immediately acted by calling upon his psynergy. Isaac and Ivan were completely caught off guard as fire exploded up from the ground and spiraled up into the air like a tornado. The two yelled out as the fire burned them and knocked them flying. Isaac nearly slid off the edge, but Ivan slowed their momentum by summoning a tailwind that lasted only for a few moments.

The tornado of flame intercepted the shards of ice. This wasn't normal psynergy, so the shards began pushing through the fire, much to Saturos's surprise. The warrior was shocked, but he didn't let it deter him. He gathered up all of the fire around him and shot it forward, directly into the shards.

The blast of fire was so strong, it melted the shards and flew straight towards Mia, who was completely unprepared for a counter attack. Garet saw the attack coming, so he shoved Mia to the ground and flung himself in front of her.

The stream of intense fire collided with Garet's body. The redhead was unable to keep quiet as the front of his body charred and burnt. Despite his own affinity with fire, the stream of fire that cascaded over him was hotter than lava at this point.

"Garet!" Mia cried. Drawing upon her power, she sent a wave of revitalizing Ply psynergy at Garet in an attempt to lessen the damage.

The fire soon dissipated, revealing a burned and steaming Garet. His hair was hanging over his face, singed at the ends. The Mars Adept panted hard, his shoulders heaving with the attempt to remain upright.

"Oh? You can still stand?" Saturos inquired, slightly impressed at the teen's vitality. Ivan and Isaac, were slowly getting up, so Saturos knew he couldn't just stand around. "Why don't you STAY down!?"

Saturos punctuated this last statement with a large fireball. The two he aimed at were forced to throw themselves aside to prevent being burnt to a crisp.

"Are…are we even hurting him?" Isaac panted. He and his friends were tiring fast, yet Saturos didn't even seem to be tired.

"We have to be…no one is invincible…" Ivan reasoned, though he too was out of breath.

Without further ado, the two teens lifted themselves back up, hefted their weapons, and charged back it at Saturos, who was all to willing to engage them once more.

Isaac called upon Flint, who had been waiting patiently for a summon since the battle started. His axe blade turned to pure Venus psynergy, and he swung as hard as he could towards Saturos.

The warrior brought his blade up to block, but when their weapons collided, he was shocked by the amount of force behind Isaac's axe. Saturos's eyes widened as Isaac began to push him back with Flint's power.

"I don't think so," Saturos grunted, and he began amplifying his strength with flames. An aura of fiery light emanated from the warrior's feet and swirled up around him. A similar thing happened with Isaac, only his aura was colored yellow.

The tiling cracked and shattered underneath their feet as they pressed against one another's blades. Their eyes met, and Isaac could swear that he could see respect in Saturos's narrowed eyes.

Saturos's aura exploded outwards and ignited, and Isaac was shocked to find himself being pushed back. Even with Flint, Saturos was just too strong. Isaac's axe blades returned to normal, and he was flung backwards. Ivan caught him before he could fall of the edge.

Over near Garet and Mia, the situation was looking dire indeed. Garet was lying on his back as Mia healed him, smiling weakly.

"You didn't need to do that for me…" Mia told the redhead as she healed his burns. Garet laughed weakly, turning his head to gaze into her eyes.

"…Of course...I did. What kind of…man would I be…if I can't even protect a girl?" he replied, though his voice was quiet, as he was in serious pain. Mia adopted an exasperated look, and she pretended to smack him, though she did see what he was trying to say. Garet laughed again, and then he grew serious. "Mia…"

"Yes?" she asked curiously, now watching his burns slowly disappear. Garet looked dead serious, a look that was odd for him.

"I want to you try…summoning," he requested. When Mia looked confused, Garet continued. "Trust me, it's the only way we can stop him. Try…summoning."

"O…okay…I'll try, but what do I summon?" Mia asked, her expression uncertain. Garet sighed with a hint of regret evident.

"Nereid….summon Nereid. Say her name, and she will come," Garet explained. Mia nodded slowly, though she didn't understand at all. Mia stood up, gazing at Saturos intensely. The warrior was currently clashing with Ivan, as he had just sliced into Isaac's hip and shoved him back.

"Um…I summon Nereid!" Mia cried out aloud. Saturos turned his head at the sound of her voice, and his eyes widened.

"What? You what?" the warrior asked in shock. Despite being so powerful, it didn't seem that he had ever heard of such a thing.

"Mia, no!" Isaac shouted at the girl. "You don't know what the catch is!"

Mia looked confused, but it was too late. Everyone on top of the lighthouse suddenly grew aware of an incredible Mercury-based presence approaching them.

"Where…where is it!?" Saturos cried out. Ivan lunged at him, his rapier aiming for the warrior's middle. Saturos deflected the blow with his wristband, and then executed a quick uppercut with his fist. Ivan was hit below the chin, and his teeth were forced into the roof of his mouth, drawing blood. Then, Saturos kicked the teen the ground, where he coughed out blood onto the blue tiling.

That's when everyone began to hear the sound of rushing water. All eyes turned towards the direction of the sound. To their shock, what looked like a massive torrent of water was heading their way from the horizon…over the air.

"What the…" Saturos emitted. He turned to face the incoming wave head on. "What new monstrosity is this?!"

The river of water soon broke upon the side of the lighthouse, sending spray everywhere. A torrent of water washed across the floor, rising up to Saturos's waist. The force behind the torrent was so great, that he was pushed back several feet before he regained his footing.

Strangely enough, the water didn't seem to be material for any of the teen fighters. Isaac stood up, the water passing right through him without him feeling a thing.

"This water….is it Nereid?!" Ivan marveled, watching as Saturos struggled to remain upright. However, it hadn't ended yet.

"Look!" Mia cried, pointing out at the river that was flowing from the horizon. In the distance, a shadow could be seen moving under the water at a high speed. As everyone watched, a figure emerged from the water, heading straight for them.

It was a beautiful woman, dressed in a flowing, blue silk dress. She was astride a powerful white horse that had the tail of a fish. There was an aquamarine trident clasped in one hand, while the other was grasping the reins of her steed.

If Isaac had to guess, the woman before her appeared to only slightly older than he was, perhaps eighteen or nineteen. An innocent smile was on her face as she enjoyed the spray kicked up from her steady movement forward. Her golden tresses flew backwards in the wind, and she emitted a happy, musical laugh.

Saturos emitted a sound of shock upon seeing her. What surprised him even more was what she did next. The woman, who must have been Nereid herself, thrust her trident into the air. Even as she did this, a massive tidal wave rose from the waters behind her.

When Nereid reached the lighthouse, she zoomed straight towards Saturos. The warrior saw her coming and readied himself, brandishing his sword before him. The carefree glint in the goddess's eyes suddenly turned as hard as steel, and then she struck. Saturos blocked the strike from her trident with difficulty, as the momentum behind it was nearly enough to knock him off of his feet.

The goddess moved towards Mia, giving the incredibly perplexed girl a flirtatious wink before disappearing from sight. But that's when the shadow of the tidal wave fell over a very shocked Saturos. He realized that he couldn't avoid it, so he crossed his arms in front of him and braced himself for the impact.

Isaac winced as the wave smashed into Saturos with incredible force. The warrior could be heard screaming in pain, and Isaac could see Saturos being borne off the side of the lighthouse by the incredible rushing water.

Once the wave passed by, the water soon slowed to a trickle, until all traces of it vanished from the top of the lighthouse. There was no sign of Saturos.

"Was…was that summoning?!" Mia finally screamed, breaking the silence. Isaac and the others had to laugh despite themselves. Garet hoisted himself to his feet, a familiar grin crossing his face. "And what did you mean by a catch, Isaac?"

"Oh, I know what the catch is. All I gotta say is that I envy you, Mia. I envy you so fucking much," Garet insinuated. Isaac realized what he meant, and then released an exasperated groan, his face falling into his hand. Ivan turned red and pretended to clear his throat, turning the other way.

"What are you talking about?" Mia demanded, clearly not amused. Garet was about to tell her when they began to hear a scrabbling sound.

The teens looked on in shock as Saturos climbed over the side of the lighthouse, having somehow prevented himself from falling to his death. He was now out of breath, and Isaac could see bruises dotting his body. Nereid had really hurt him, most likely because it was the opposing element.

"How…how did you survive that?!" Garet demanded. Saturos let out a triumphant laugh as he climbed to his feet.

"I'm…not the strongest warrior in Prox for nothing," he managed to get out, stumbling over his words. Isaac didn't recognize the name of that settlement, but he didn't have time to dwell upon it.

"You're strong," the warrior admitted reluctantly. "I respect that. But all you've really proven…is that I can't hold back against you anymore."

"Wh…what?" Isaac stammered. Was he saying…that he had been holding back this whole time? Saturos laughed again, and he hunched over, the air heating up around him.

Saturos began to yell wordlessly as an extremely powerful aura exploded from the ground around him. Flames ascended into the air, scorching the floor and statues near it a glossy black. His yell rose in pitch as the flames grew hotter and louder. Soon, his eyes opened, and they were burning white hot with flames of their own. Flames began to emit from his mouth, and Garet suddenly felt less than adequate in the face of such incredible Mars fury.

"It's time for you to die!" Saturos roared, his voice sounding like fire itself, flicking and burning. The aura of flame collected around him, and then he shot himself through the air towards the teens.

Isaac slammed his sword into the ground, and a wall of stone erupted from the ground to bar Saturos's path. However, the warrior smashed the barrier to pieces with his bare hands, and he was among them in an instant.

Ivan managed to block one blow from Saturos, but that one blow forced Ivan into the ground, the tiling shattering around his feet. The teen summoned his own Djinni, Breeze, and surrounded the group with an element-resisting aura.

It was a good thing he did, since Saturos's next attack was to shoot out an intense stream of flame over the entire group. Thanks to Breeze, the burns they received from the attack didn't kill them outright, and instead left large burns on their bodies.

Garet was much better off. Upon seeing Ivan use his supportive Djinni, he did the same. He summoned Forge instantly, enhancing the attack power of all four of them.

That extra attack power allowed Isaac to withstand the overwhelming power behind Saturos's furious attacks. Even with the attack boost, Isaac was slowly being driven back under the relentless assault.

"Ivan!" Isaac shouted, looking for a way to escape before Saturos drove him clear over the edge. The teen nodded and summoned his other Djinni, Gust. His rapier began to glow purple with the Djinni's power. Ivan then ran towards Saturos. However, as he did so, Ivan noticed that the air was growing dimmer, and the purple aura surrounding his rapier changed to a mix of green and purple, the colors swimming around one another. Ivan grinned when he realized that his next attack was going to get a huge boost.

Saturos created two powerful streams of fire and flung them at Isaac, who had no way to guard against it except with his axe. When Isaac went to block the streams, his axe shattered into pieces and he was sent flying. Thankfully, Garet was there to save him from falling off of the edge. Garet was flying again, but he returned to the ground to prevent from wasting any further psynergy.

Saturos was about to assault both Garet and Isaac when he realized that Ivan was behind him. He began to turn, but he wasn't able to stop the teen from bringing his rapier down on the back of his breastplate.

Both Gust's power and the power of the rapier itself exploded forth in a blast of green and purple, slicing right through Saturos's armor. The warrior screamed out in pain as he was sent flying backwards over the edge. However, the warrior was not done with that. He flew back towards the lighthouse top using the same method as Garet, only his was much faster thanks to the huge aura of flame that was still surrounding him.

Saturos landed back on the floor, blood dripping from the wound on his back. The warrior then directed a little of his flame on the wound, cauterizing it. The pain from the cauterization showed on the warrior's face, but he didn't cry out.

"Tch…you are beginning to become a nuisance!" Saturos growled. He stormed forwards, the tiles melting wherever he stepped. "I'm going to burn you all into oblivion!"

"Burn this, bitch!" Isaac suddenly shouted, drawing the warrior's attention. Despite having no weapon, there was a determined look on the teen's face. "Ramses…kick this guy's ass!"

"Ramses…Isaac, don't be foolish!" Ivan snapped, but it was too late. Ramses' sarcophagus had already appeared out of thin air and landed on the ground. Saturos saw the sarcophagus, his flaming eyes narrowing.

"I won't be pushed around!" Saturos snarled, and then he zoomed at the sarcophagus before Ramses could even emerge.

The lid of the coffin shot open, revealing the immortal pharaoh in all of his glory. Ramses flew out of the coffin and met Saturos in midair, his scimitar and staff drawn.

The teens watched in awe as an epic melee unfolded in midair before them. Saturos and Ramses appeared to be evenly matched, each of them taking a significant amount of damage from the other.

Ramses brought his scimitar forward, but it was blocked by Saturos's wristband. However, Ramses' kick caught Saturos in the torso, knocking him back. The warrior zoomed around the god and brought his sword down on his back, slicing it open. However, there was no blood. The wound sealed up almost instantly, and now Ramses was mad.

Isaac suddenly realized that they were no longer on top of the lighthouse. He was in the desert of Ramses' domain, along with his friends. Saturos and Ramses fought atop an unfinished pyramid. The land itself began to react to the presence of such powerful beings. The sand around their battle began turning to glass, and storm clouds began to form in the air above them, lightning crackling within the darkness.

Ramses managed to break through Saturos's intense assault of slashes and cuts, and land a good hit with his staff. Saturos was sent flying off the pyramid and into the sand, which immediately turned to glass and then melted. Ramses then charged up his ultimate attack, the one that had allowed the teens to defeat Tret once and for all.

Giant boulders in the shape of fists formed above Ramses' outstretched hand. Saturos looked up, his flaming eyes widening. Then, with a lightning fast gesture, the boulders zoomed towards the warrior and slammed into him.

As the warrior cried out, the desert dissolved to reveal the lighthouse once again. Ramses faded from view, his task complete.

The teens readied their weapons once more as they viewed Saturos, who was struggling to recover after the impact. Isaac formed a spire of rock out of midair, and was using that as a weapon for the time being.

Saturos rose to his feet, but he was hunched over and holding his chest, clearly wounded nearly to the point of collapse. The aura of flame had dissipated, as had the flame around his eyes. The warrior struggled to lift his sword, but it was clear that this battle was nearly over.

"I….won't…" Saturos began, but before he finished talking, he lunged one last time at the teens. They were ready for him.

With a collective battle cry, the teens struck forward with the last of their remaining strength.

Saturos reached the end of the platform, unmoving. He turned his head to face them, a blank expression on his face. Blood then exploded from the wounds inflicted upon him by the teens, and he slumped to the floor, too exhausted to move.

"Ha…ha…we did it…" Garet managed to get out, before he too, hit the ground exhausted. Mia and Ivan smiled happily, and then they slumped to the ground next to Garet. Isaac was going to do no such thing, however.

"Who…would have thought it…?" Saturos groaned, lifting his head. "If only I had been at full power…"

Isaac didn't know what he meant by that, but he didn't care. He walked unsteadily up to the warrior, lifting a razor sharp spike above his head. He gazed down at Saturos with hatred in his eyes. He lifted the shard high, but before he could exact his revenge, he was prevented.

His eyes widened with shock as a super pressurized geyser of water erupted from the ground right beneath his feet and knocked him high into the air. He hit the ground next to Saturos, winded and unable to move for a while.

"I…I know that psynergy!" Mia suddenly spoke up, alarm evident in her voice. The teens looked up to see a very familiar and unwanted figure standing before them.

The man's cape cascaded over his armored shoulders, flowing in the breeze. His light blue hair fell down over his shoulders and over one of his eyes, giving him a very intimidating presence.

"Alex!" Mia screeched in shock, and she used a statue to climb to her feet, although she leaned on it heavily. Alex gave a small smile that did not reach his eyes.

"It's been a while, Mia," the man greeted her politely. Mia then realized that her friend was indeed among the enemy, and her face flushed red with anger.

"Alex…do you realize what you've done?!" she snapped at him in disbelief. Alex walked towards the watery orb of Mercury power.

"Of course…I have freed an ancient power that was wrongfully sealed away," he answered, confidently turning his back to her. He raised his arms, looking up at the orb with awe. "Mercury, the Lighthouse of Water…what a mighty force!"

"Are…are you mad?!" Mia cried out, taking a few steps towards her childhood friend. Alex gave a small laugh and shook his head, turning back to her.

"No, Mia. Do you not see? The lighthouse gave you incredible power in your fight with Saturos. Surely you noticed?" he responded. Mia opened her mouth to protest, but then she closed it again.

"You're….you're right. I used so much psynergy in that battle, yet I never ran dry," she admitted. Alex smiled, glad that she understood.

"Alex…" Ivan spoke up, though he was unable to get up off of the floor due to exhaustion. "Tell us…why Saturos couldn't use his full power."

"Wait, he what?!" Garet exclaimed in utter shock. "He nearly annihilated us, and that wasn't his full power?!"

"Of course not. Allow me to explain. Saturos is aligned with the Mars element, which contrasts with the Mercury element. As they are opposing elements, his power was bound by the water psynergy of this lighthouse," Alex clarified.

"Didn't Saturos know that?" Mia questioned, glancing over at Saturos's fallen form.

"Of course he did. But you see, he underestimated the power of this lighthouse, as did I," the man replied, walking over to his fallen comrade.

"So we only beat him because he was weakened?" Isaac asked, finally rising from where he had landed. Alex adopted a mysterious smile.

There was a grunt, and then Saturos rose to his feet, his wounds not longer bleeding, as he had cauterized them with his psynergy. The teens gasped in shock at his sudden recovery.

"How is he getting up? We beat him!" Ivan demanded, despair etched onto his face. They couldn't stand up to Saturos in this state. If he chose to finish them off…

"Me? Defeated? Never. I lost to this lighthouse, not to you," Saturos snapped, though it was clear his pride was hurt by this whole event.

"I was merely buying time for Saturos to regain his strength," Alex revealed to them. Isaac turned to face Saturos, the shard of earth still in his hands.

"I won't let you escape! I will…kill you…!" Isaac snarled, bringing the shard up.

Alex suddenly appeared in the way, water psynergy at least ten times strong than Mia swirling around him. He grabbed the shard with on hand and crushed it without expending any effort, and then he nimbly leapt up and kicked Isaac to the ground again. Isaac hit the ground hard, letting out a gasp. He tried to get up again, but couldn't. He hurt too bad.

Alex smiled again and placed a hand upon Saturos's shoulder. Then, he disappeared, along with the warrior. Mia gaped in shock at their disappearance.

"He warped again!" Garet exclaimed. Mia turned to him, confused.

"Again!? He's done that before?" she demanded. Garet nodded in confirmation.

"Yeah, he did it back in Sol Sanctum, back when he helped Saturos and Menardi steal the Elemental Stars," he replied. Mia looked down, sadness evident on her face.

"That psynergy…the warp. If Alex can use it, does that mean Mia can too?" Ivan conjectured aloud. Mia looked at him and shook her head slowly.

"No…it's impossible. Even Alex didn't have that kind of power before," she answered.

Suddenly, Alex and Saturos appeared on the opposite elevator, which was the one that would take them back to the base of the lighthouse. As Mia whirled to face them, Alex smiled one last time.

"I suppose I can't stay the same Alex you knew forever," he said to her, shrugging. "Now, it seems our ride has arrived. I suppose you'll be willing to pursue us for the other Elemental Stars?"

"You bet your sorry ass I will!" Isaac shouted at them. Alex chuckled at his vehemence.

"I look forward to our next battle, young ones," Saturos bid them farewell, and then the elevator descended out of sight.

"They're gone…" Ivan whispered. Isaac yelled out his range and slammed his fist into the ground, shattering the tiling.

"DAMMIT! We couldn't even save Jenna…" the teen lamented, and he fell to his knees. Mia was also despairing. Garet was at her side, attempting to comfort her.

"I…I don't even deserve to be a healer. The beacon was lit….I have failed my duty…my clan…" she cried, tears running down her face. Garet patted her awkwardly on the shoulder, not knowing how to respond in this sort of situation.

"That's not true!" Ivan suddenly snapped vehemently. The teen hoisted himself to his feet, as he had been using traveling herbs to patch himself up. All eyes turned to the teen, who had a determined look on his face. "We can still best them! There are four lighthouses, and only one has been lit."

"You're right…" Isaac realized. "This is only one lighthouse. If we can stop them at the next, then we'll still be victorious!"

"That's right! We can save Jenna and Kraden at the next lighthouse!" Garet shouted out confidently, thumping his chest with his fist…and then doubling over with pain. "Goddammit…why did I do that?"

"Yes! We won't let Alex get away with this!" Mia snapped. That caused the teens to look at her curiously.

"We? Are you coming with us, Mia?" Ivan asked curiously. "Don't the people of Imil need you?"

"No, they don't. Let's head to the base of the lighthouse, and I'll show you why," she told them mysteriously. Perplexed, the group inched over to the elevator.

Once aboard, it only took one quick casting of Ply to send them on their way down.

Once at the bottom, the group descended a set of stairs and one ladder until they were at the very base of the lighthouse once again, near the dried up fountain of the Water of Hermes. However, to their shock, the fountain was no longer dry.

"The…the Water of Hermes! It's back!" Garet exclaimed in shock and happiness. "Isaac! Now we can save Tret and Laurel!"

"You're right! This is good news indeed!" Ivan cried out happily. Isaac was still a little depressed from their failure to stop Saturos and Menardi, but at least they could save something. He let a small smile cross his face.

"This is why Imil doesn't need me anymore. Now that the lighthouse is lit, the Water of Hermes comes back. With it, the town can heal all of their illnesses without needing my help," Mia explained. Isaac realized that she was right. With that, Isaac suddenly realized that their small group had become four. Mia was going to help them stop Saturos and Menardi.

"Yes! We have a girl in the group!" Garet yelled out, throwing his arms in the air in triumph. Mia scoffed and swiped at him in annoyance, but he managed to dodge. Despite everything, Isaac managed to laugh at his friend's antics.

"Speaking of the group, can we set up camp right here for now?" Ivan suggested. Isaac suddenly imaged his bedroll, and he realized just how tired he was.

"That sounds good. I'm really not up for the trip back to Imil just yet," Isaac agreed. He took off his bag and began setting up his own tent.

"Um…I didn't bring a tent…" Mia said to them. Garet suddenly gained this really perverted grin. However, Mia spotted it first and smacked him. "No, I am NOT sharing a tent with you!"

"Hey…I didn't even suggest it yet!"

Isaac thought about that for a second, and then he realized it didn't matter in the long run.

"Mia, that actually works out. One of us always keeps watch during the night, so one of our tents is usually empty. So Ivan will take first watch tonight, and you can use his tent until he wakes you for second," Isaac explained. Understanding dawned in Mia's eyes.

"Ah, and then I can wake one of the others and use their tent?" she asked. Isaac nodded. With that settled, the group began setting up camp for the night, even as the sun dipped towards the horizon.

Isaac set up his tent as fast as he could, so that he could relax as long as possible. He was wiped out and hurting, and he really needed some sleep.

Once he was done, he bid goodnight to his friends and retreated inside the tent. He was so tired, that he fell asleep the moment his head met the pillow.

The second he slipped into slumber, light began to bleed through his eyelids. He groaned, not wanting to wake up. Why was there light? It couldn't be morning already.

Isaac sighed and opened his eyes, only to find himself staring up at a blue, cloudless sky. Now suddenly confused and alarmed, he shot up in his bedroll to find himself in an endless desert, with finished and unfinished pyramids visible in the distance. Understanding soon dawned on him.

"OH SON OF A BITCH!"

* * *

That was probably the best accomplishment I've ever done as a writer. I've never written a battle scene that long in my life. However, since I was playing the Saturos battle theme on repeat, combat maneuvers and techniques just sort of materialized in my mind like a movie, so it wasn't that difficult to write everything down.

Anyhow, since I've posted two chapters in one day, don't expect one any time soon. I will probably work on my other stories to give myself a break from this one, since I literally spent all day working on it.

And I don't have to do shoutouts since no one reviewed since the first chapter I posted today. Mwahaha.

Keelah Se'lai,

The Proud Quarian,

Terran34


	18. Kolima's Rebirth

Hey, everyone. I bet you've been wondering where I went. Actually, I didn't go anywhere. You just haven't put me on your author alert list, because I've been writing a crap ton on my Fairy Tail and Final Fantasy stories…but enough about those. You guys came here to read some Golden Sun.

Well, I'm going to warn you. I take some liberties with this chapter, because I felt that it could have been done better in the game.

Disclaimer: This is like, the only story I still do disclaimers with. I don't own Golden Sun.

* * *

Garet sat on the steps leading up to the entrance of the Mercury Lighthouse, looking bored out of his mind. He looked down at the three tents where his friends were sleeping.

Forge, who was curled up on his lap, chittered suddenly. Garet scratched it lightly on the head absentmindedly, watching the horizon. The sun was not in view just yet, but the redhead could see the dimmest of lights. He sighed, knowing that he would have to wake the others up soon.

When at last, the first ray of the sun peeked over the horizon, Garet allowed Forge to return to his mind, and then he hoisted himself to his feet. He first walked over to Ivan's tent, which was the closest.

"Morning, sleepy. Come on out and join the living," Garet woke the teen gently, and by gently that meant throwing a small rock at him. The rock pinged off of the teen's forehead, and Ivan winced.

"Was that really necessary?" Ivan complained, though he did get up. Garet only grinned and withdrew from the blonde's tent. While Ivan was shifting about in his tent, the redhead next moved over to Isaac's tent.

The moment the blond gained consciousness, Isaac sprang up, his eyes wide and sweat covering his entire body. "GAH! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NO MO…huh? Oh thank Gaia!" Isaac literally screamed upon waking up. Garet didn't recoil this time, as he had been rather expecting it.

"Morning Isaac! How was your rest?" Garet asked in an overly happy tone, a cheeky grin on his boyish face. Isaac's resulting glare was impressive.

"Fuck you Garet." The redhead in question just laughed uproariously and moved away towards Mia's tent.

Isaac groaned, utterly spent from another three months toiling in Ramses's realm. Unlike last time, when he had been forced to help build a pyramid, this time the pyramid was finished, and Isaac was made to construct and install lethal traps to place within the bowels of the tombs, though why a god like him needed traps was beyond him. More than once, Isaac had nearly been killed by traps activating prematurely while he was still installing them, and once he had been impaled through the middle by a spear, which he was sure killed him, but he had just reappeared next to Ramses, who had just ordered him back inside without a second glance.

Isaac held a hand to his head, as he was getting a headache. He could hardly breathe either, for his nose was clogged for some reason. He hoped he wasn't getting ill. That was the last thing he needed.

He managed to crawl to the center of the camp, where Ivan was cooking breakfast with the last of their water. That reminded him. They were out of water, but the fountain that held the Waters of Hermes was now flowing.

Curious, Isaac made his way over to the trickling fountain and brought some of the water to his mouth. His eyes widened when he tasted of it, as it tasted unlike anything he'd ever put in his mouth. Almost immediately, all the fatigue that he felt from working with Ramses dissolved like it had never been, along with the developing headache that Isaac was starting to get, and even cleared his airways. Isaac breathed in sweet air gratefully, and he looked at the water in a new light.

"Damn, this stuff really does work," Isaac declared, leaping to his feet. Ivan raised an eyebrow at his sudden burst of energy.

"Isaac? Didn't Ramses grab you for a favor?" the blonde asked curiously. Isaac nodded grimly, but he was in such a good mood from tasting the water, that he didn't let the past three months of hell get to him. "Thought you'd be more tired than that."

"I was, until I drank some of this water. Now I feel like a new man!" Isaac explained. The blonde grabbed his canteen from his tent and immediately filled it to the brim with the Waters of Hermes. "This, however, I'm saving for Tret when we travel back to Kolima."

"Good thinking. We can just buy an extra canteen when we get back to Imil," Ivan remarked, stirring the contents of the pot. Isaac grinned and sat beside the blonde.

Suddenly, Isaac heard a loud squeal from Mia, and then a sharp percussive crack shot through the air. An indignant yelp of pain from Garet soon followed. Isaac rested his face in his palm and looked to see what the redhead had done now.

Garet was holding his face where Mia had slapped him, standing just outside of the tent. Mia was nowhere to be seen, which meant that she was still inside the tent. "What the hell Mia?! I was just trying to wake you up," Garet protested innocently. Isaac looked confused. Maybe Garet hadn't tried anything funny. Then why was Mia upset?

"D-d-don't c-come in h-here…" came the muffled sound of Mia's voice. She sounded incredibly flustered, though for what reason Isaac had no clue.

"Why not? Are you all right?" Garet asked, concern evident in his voice. He moved towards the tent flap again.

"N-NO! G-G-GET AWAY!" Mia screamed shrilly, causing Garet to retreat. Isaac looked at Ivan in confusion. The other blonde shrugged, and then started filling bowls with food from the pot.

"Mia…?" Garet repeated, looking honestly worried. There was a shuffling sound from within the tent.

"T-t-turn the o-other way. A-all of you," Mia suddenly requested, still not leaving the tent. Garet turned to Isaac, their gazes meeting. Garet shrugged and did as he was asked. He motioned for Isaac and Ivan to do the same. Bemused, they did so.

"Okay, we're turned around," Garet related to Mia.

"D-d-don't look," Mia begged, and Isaac heard a rustling as the girl left her tent. Isaac was incredibly tempted to see what was wrong with her, but he respected her privacy. He then heard pattering feet that rapidly decreased in volume until Mia was clearly no longer in the clearing.

Garet turned around to see that Mia was nowhere to be seen. "The hell was that all about?" the redhead grumbled, nursing his aching cheek. He peered inside Mia's…or rather, it was his tent originally, and seemed to notice something on the ground. Garet slipped entirely inside the tent.

"I wonder if Mia is okay." Ivan whispered to Isaac, turning around again. He continued to distribute food amongst four bowls. When he was done, he handed the bowl to Isaac, who began eating it gratefully.

Isaac suddenly heard the sound of hysterical laughter. The blonde raised an eyebrow and watched as Garet stumbled out of his tent, laughing so hard, he was practically crying.

"Garet…are you okay?" Isaac questioned, wondering if his friend had gone insane. Garet could only wave a hand in response, as he was laughing too hard to form a coherent answer. The redhead collapsed against a wall near the fountain, continuing to display his overwhelming merriment.

"I…heheh…I think I know…oh Kirin…what's wrong with Mia…oh hahahaha!" Garet finally managed to get out. He held up two fingers, which were wet for some odd reason. Isaac thought he'd accidentally dunked them in the fountain, but then he noticed that the liquid was sticking to Garet's fingers.

Isaac's right eye began to twitch spasmodically as understanding dawned upon him, and then he too couldn't help but explode with laughter. Ivan looked between the two of them, completely confused.

"Isaac? Care to explain?" the teen asked with a raised eyebrow. Isaac covered his mouth with his hand, trying to muffle his own laughter. As he couldn't respond to Ivan, Isaac pointed to his head and then doubled over in merriment. Ivan took the gesture as permission, and the teen put his hand on Isaac's shoulder, reading his mind quickly.

Ivan's expression went from normal to crimson in less than a second, and he withdrew from Isaac's mind in a hurry. The teen coughed awkwardly and went over to the edge of the platform. Isaac watched him the teen go, still laughing up a storm. When Ivan reached the edge, the poor blonde promptly vomited what little there was in his stomach. This display only caused Isaac and Garet to laugh harder. The redhead was now rolling on the ground in an extremely undignified manner, while Isaac was struggling to breathe.

They only managed to compose themselves when Mia finally returned to the clearing, her face blushing furiously. Isaac noticed that she wasn't wearing leggings underneath her long robe anymore, and nearly dissolved into another bout of helpless laughter, but bit his tongue hard. He looked at Garet, who was chuckling quietly into his hand.

"W-w-what's so funny?" Mia snapped at the redhead, who stood up and held up his hands in the air, as if to say, "I didn't do anything!"

"So…" Garet began, his voice shaky. Mia gave him a sharp look the second he started talking. "How was your rest last night?"

"G-g-good…I guess," Mia lied incredibly obviously; Isaac had to turn around in order to hide his amusement.

"You look like you had trouble sleeping," Garet quipped. Mia's face suddenly turned a shade of red so bright, Isaac thought it was comparable to Garet's hair, if such a thing was even possible.

"W-w-w-what are you imp-p-plying?!" Mia stammered out furiously, her hand hovering dangerously close to Garet, who stepped back just to be safe. Garet attempted to hide a smile, but failed miserably.

"Nothing of course. Just worried for your…shall we say…well being?" Garet replied. Isaac bit his tongue even harder, so that blood flowed. He was practically crying with the amount of effort it took not to laugh.

With that, the group settled down for an incredibly awkward meal, with Garet and Isaac exchanging glances and grinning when Mia wasn't looking. The blue haired girl was trying way too hard to make sure that her robes were covering her bare legs. The robes were large, so she succeeded readily, but that didn't make it any less amusing. Ivan merely bolted his food as fast as he could and then started packing up everything, so that he wouldn't have to dwell on the horrible (in his opinion) images he had seen in Isaac's mind.

At last, Isaac managed to finish his meal and began helping Ivan pack up the camp. Garet and Mia did the same, though Mia moved very oddly to hide her lack of leggings.

"All done," Isaac declared, hefting all of his travel equipment on his back. He didn't have a weapon or a shield anymore thanks to Saturos, but thankfully the strange breastplate that he had picked up from the Siren was still intact. Garet's breastplate had been roasted to a crisp, and the fur coat that concealed chainmail was completely devoid of all fur now, so that all Isaac could see was the chainmail. They would need to restock in Imil for sure.

"Same here," Garet added. There were complementary declarations from Ivan and Mia, though Mia's was much more subdued.

"Now, everyone drink your fill of the Waters. We won't be back here ever again, I don't think," Isaac directed. His friends saw the sense in that, and soon all four of them were bent over the fountain, drinking the water.

Garet quit drinking sooner than everyone else, and tiptoed stealthily behind Mia. He glanced at her bent over form and his face quickly turned scarlet. Isaac was the next to finish drinking. He noticed what Garet was doing and smacked his friend upside the head, earning a yelp from the redhead.

All of the teens filled their canteens with more of the Waters of Hermes, and then everyone was set to go. Isaac took the lead, and the group began traveling back towards Imil.

* * *

The first thing Isaac noticed upon their return to Imil was the flurry of activity by its inhabitants. Some of them appeared to be preparing packs for traveling, which seemed odd to the blonde.

When the four of them appeared back into the village, it was only a matter of seconds before someone had spotted Mia and alerted the other villagers.

"Come on Garet, Ivan. This is something she needs to handle by herself," Isaac said to his friends. Garet looked confused, but nevertheless he and Ivan did as asked. Isaac stood back and watched as the villagers crowded Mia, launching rapid questions at her.

She managed to silence them all by holding up a hand. She looked down at the ground, clearly still distraught over her failure to stop the lighthouse from being lit.

"I have some news to relate to you all," Mia began in a somber voice, and she began meeting the gazes of each of the villagers that surrounded her.

"As you all noticed, the lighthouse has been lit." Mia's words caused several of the villagers to glance at the glowing blue light atop the silhouette of the Mercury Lighthouse in the distance. "If things stay as they are, the entire world will be in danger, especially if the other lighthouses are lit."

"Why don't we all go inside the Sanctum and hear this story? It's much warmer in there," one of the more elderly villagers suggested sensibly. Mia hesitated, and then nodded. The crowd of villagers, along with Mia, migrated in the direction of the Sanctum, which was just south from here.

Garet made as if to follow them, but stopped when he noticed Isaac and Ivan were not moving. "Guys?"

"Leave her be. We don't want to pressure her with our presence. It's better if we just wait here," Isaac ordered. Garet nodded solemnly and returned to his original position.

They waited there for a few minutes, until Ivan began wandering around. The teen looked over the village, and then he raised an eyebrow upon noticing something. "I know what we can do while we're waiting. It looks like the weapon and armor shop is open." Ivan alerted them, pointing. Isaac followed his finger to see that the shops were no longer boarded up as they had been, and he could see a light in the window.

"Good idea. I need a weapon," Isaac concurred. He led his friends to the shop, and then opened the door.

There was an elderly man standing behind the counter, polishing a large broadsword with a rag. On the walls behind him were hanging a large variety of weapons and armor. The man noticed their entry and waved merrily.

"Welcome to my shop! I am glad to say that I have just finished sorting the latest shipment, and they are all available to you for a reasonable price!" the man informed them enthusiastically, returning the broadsword he was holding to a rack on the wall. "Are you looking for anything in particular, or are you just looking?"

"Just looking for now, thanks," Isaac replied, walking up to the counter. He noticed more battleaxes hanging on the wall, but they were not like the ones in Bilibin. These were long handled and clearly heavier, and thus they didn't really suit his style. However, his eyes rested upon the broadswords like the one the shopkeeper had been polishing. He kept those in mind, and kept browsing.

"Those look interesting. What are those?" Garet pointed out a set of white clothing hanging in the armor section. Isaac looked, intrigued. He wondered why they were in the armor section, because they just looked like normal clothes.

"You have a good eye, sir!" the shopkeeper spoke up happily. The older man lifted a set of the clothes down from the wall and laid them out on the counter. "On the outside, they look like normal traveling clothes. However…"

The shopkeeper turned the sleeve of the shirt inside out, revealing to Isaac's surprise a thick inner lining of chainmail. It was similar to Ivan's fur coat, as they both utilized hidden armor underneath normal looking clothes. "On the inside, it's completely covered with a few layers of fine chainmail. A full suit of this will protect you from most glancing blows, though you should of course avoid direct attacks." The man chuckled a bit at his last statement. "They are eight fifty each."

Isaac whistled at the price, as that was no low price. Thankfully, he had plenty of money left over from Captain Jace's gift, as well as the money he had gathered from monsters on the journey here. He now had about 6153 coins, which was a significant amount compared to the standard income of a normal villager. He looked at Garet and Ivan.

"What do you think?" he asked. Garet nodded enthusiastically, as his leather armor had been incinerated during the fight with Saturos, and chainmail was stronger than leather anyhow. Ivan shrugged, leaving the decision up to Isaac. The blonde then quickly made up his mind.

"All right, I'll take a broad sword and one of those battleaxes," Isaac ordered. He noticed the elderly shopkeeper writing down what he was ordering, so Isaac continued to list off the other things he wanted. "I want one of your bronze shields and four sets of that white clothing."

"Will that be all?" the shopkeeper said as he finished writing down the last of Isaac's requests. The blonde turned to Ivan and held out his hand. Ivan looked confused at first, but then he realized what Isaac wanted. The teen fished out the old hunter's blade he had wielded before finding the rapier and passed it to Isaac's waiting hands.

"Not quite. Would you be interested in buying this blade and Garet's old axe? They're in good condition," Isaac handed the weapons in question to the shopkeeper, who began looking over them with an appraising eye. At last, the man nodded in appreciation, and then did a bit of quick math on the paper.

"Hm…let's see…eight fifty times four...add in the weapons, subtract the price of the blade…all right! Sir, your total comes out to be four thousand six hundred," the man finishes his math and then waited for Isaac's response.

"Damn, that's expensive. Isn't that most of what we have?" Garet asked Isaac worriedly. Isaac nodded grimly.

"Yeah, but there's nothing we can do about that. We can't go without the proper equipment," Ivan pointed out. Isaac sighed and began fishing out the money from his coin purse. While he was doing that, the blonde could see the shopkeeper gathering together all of the materials that he had asked for.

"I hope we get lucky on the way back to Kolima and find some more money soon. Because Kolima may have better equipment," Garet stated, turning around and rubbing his chin. "Well, once we heal Tret that is."

The trades were made, and Isaac, Garet, and Ivan all helped carry the new equipment out of the store. After bidding the shopkeeper goodbye, the three stepped back out into the frigid cold air.

"We'll wait for Mia near the edge of town," Isaac decided. He led the group over to the exit, and then they waited.

They didn't have to wait long before Mia emerged from the Sanctum, flanked by the many villagers that had been with her. Isaac turned his gaze to her expectantly, which she met with a smile.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, guys," Mia said apologetically.

"It's no trouble. Take all the time you need," Isaac replied graciously. Mia gave him a grateful look, and then turned back towards the villagers. Many of their eyes were filled with tears, and most of them insisted on hugging Mia goodbye and giving her gifts for the journey. Isaac watched as she was given at least a week's worth of supplies, along with several canteens that were already filled with fresh water. She also received some trinkets from an older woman that was opening crying, sad to see the village healer and friend leave.

Isaac noticed with some amusement that she was wearing leggings again, but he didn't say anything about it. Garet had also noticed, as he was snickering under his breath. While Mia continued to converse with the villages, he belted on his new broadsword and shield. He felt much more comfortable with the weight of the equipment on his body once again. He decided he would put on the chainmail clothing once he had some privacy. After all, he still had that armor from the siren, and it was in pretty good condition despite the beating he'd taken from Saturos.

"All right, I think I'm ready," Mia finally said. Isaac glanced at her to see a folded up tent on her back, along with a bag that held all of the items she had just received. He nodded, and then gestured towards the open snowfields with his head.

"Wait!" another voice chimed in from the crowd. Isaac gave a frustrated huff when yet another elderly villager made his way through the crowd. In his hands was clenched a long staff made of a strange material colored as white as snow. At the tip of a staff was a jewel-encrusted ankh that glowed gently. To Isaac's surprise, he could feel psynergy emanating from the staff. "Mia. Take this with you."

Mia looked shocked beyond words when she beheld the staff in the old man's hands. "I…I can't take this. This has been in your family for decades!" she protested weakly, trying to push the staff away. The old man was insistent, however.

"It's been doing nothing other than gathering dust on our mantle, and I believe it's high time it sees some use. I would be proud to see you use it to fight for the sake of the world," the old man persuaded. Mia was speechless, even as the man pressed the staff into her hands. "Take it and go. The hopes of all of us go with you."

"I…thank you. I will not forget this," Mia finally managed to say. The old man gave a teary smile to her, and then bowed his head and returned to the crowd of villagers. "All right, Isaac. I'm ready."

"Good. Let's get moving. We have a lot of ground to cover between here and Kolima," Isaac replied. With that, the group at last bid the town of Imil goodbye.

* * *

The group immediately began heading southwest, towards the curve in the road that Isaac knew would be coming. Thankfully, the weather was calm save for a light breeze, so traveling went much faster then it did the first time around. In fact, Isaac was thrilled to see that they made twice as much progress in one day than they did when going the other direction. Thus, they were able to make it all the way around the curve and began heading towards the east before finally making camp at nightfall.

Isaac and his friends took the opportunity the next morning to change into their new chainmail clothing. Isaac wore the new clothing underneath his breastplate, making the armor on his chest area twice as thick. The whole outfit was much heaver than before, but Isaac had also grown stronger since he first set out from Vault with the leather breastplates, so it wasn't that much of a burden on him. As for Ivan, it took him some getting used to, but it didn't weigh him down as much as a breastplate would have. Ivan actually admitted that he rather liked it.

Mia wore the new chainmail clothing underneath her standard robes. She seemed unwilling to part with those robes, so Isaac asked about them.

"They're the robes of the Mercury clan. They mean too much to me to just cast them aside," Mia had responded. Isaac decided that this made sense from her point of view, and said no more on the subject.

When everyone was suited up once more, they set out once more. It took them most of the morning before they reached the frozen river. They crossed this readily, and spent the majority of the afternoon circling the mountains to the south, and then turning south themselves.

The sun was on its path towards the horizon when the group reached the cave that they had arrived through. Isaac nearly missed the entrance, as it was only a small hole in the massive blanket of snow that had covered the mountainside during the last blizzard.

Unlike before, the journey through the cave was mostly peaceful, with only one minor monster encounter interrupting their travels. Isaac easily dealt with the creature, reveling at the feeling of using a sword once again.

It was completely dark outside when they emerged on the other side of the cave, where everything was noticeably greener than on the Imil side. The group made camp in the evergreen forest, after Isaac and Garet had cleared the area of monsters.

Morning found the group traveling across the winding road that headed gradually east. They crossed a bridge heading south, and then they circumvented a forest that was clearly infested with monsters. More often than not, they were forced to slow their pace to deal with a few renegade monsters that hadn't the sense to know when they were outmatched.

Despite this annoyance, Isaac was pleased to see how much progress they had made. They made camp just on the other side of the second bridge. Isaac took first watch, as he had drawn the short stick that time around.

The next day, the weather was overcast, causing Isaac to worry that their pace might be slowed by falling rain. However, the most they received for the remainder of that day was a thick fog. Their vision was limited, but thankfully no monsters bothered them.

The group headed straight east and then due south, over the bridge. They were now on Bilibin land, and the village was no more than a day's walk away. The group made camp on the edge of a small forest, once it had been appropriately cleared.

The next morning, Isaac, Garet, and Ivan agreed unanimously that they were going to once again bypass Bilibin, for the same reasons that they had done so the first time. Mia had been confused, so Ivan quickly brought her up to speed on the situation in Kolima. She was horrified about the transformed humans, and then agreed with the three about skipping Bilibin.

The group refilled their canteens at the river, even as they followed it southeast, towards where they knew the barricade would be. By the end of they day, they had reached the southern portion of the river, and the barricade was visible just over the next hill. They made camp right there, deciding to cross the barricade in the morning.

Isaac and his friends woke up more tired that usual due to a particularly bold group of rat monsters that had assaulted them in the dead of night. None of them were injured due to the timely action of Mia, who had been on watch at the time. She fought off three of them at once, while calling for everyone to wake at the same time. In the end, the only thing they lost was sleep…which promptly caused Garet to swear a blood feud against rats of all kinds.

Ryven and his comrade greeted them at the barricade with unreadable expressions. The transformed trees that Isaac could see were clearly close to death, as they had lost nearly all of their leaves. Isaac was glad they were on the way to save them, because they clearly wouldn't last much longer.

Isaac thought Ryven was going to yell again, but when the blonde held up the canteen that held the Waters of Hermes and put a happy smile on his face, the grizzled guard broke out into a wide grin and ushered them through the barricade, not daring to hinder them when so little time was left.

* * *

Isaac walked through the barricade, soon finding himself in the mess of dying trees that were once people.

"Why are they dying so soon? Didn't Tret say he had two months left?" Garet protested, walking forward. Isaac was worried, but not particularly. They were almost to Kolima, after all.

"Who knows? All I know is that we need to get to Kolima as soon as possible," Isaac replied.

Mia walked forward, heading towards the river. When she broke through the crowd of transformed people, she let out a gasp. "Isaac! Come quick! Oh, please, quickly!"

"What? What is it?" Isaac cried, knowing that the usually composed girl would never have that tone of desperation in her voice unless something was very wrong. The blonde sprinted to her side. He saw her gazing out to something in the river, and he followed her gaze.

There was another man shaped tree caught wedged between two rocks sticking out of the water. However, the current was swift, and Isaac could see that the tree would soon be swept downstream. Isaac's eyes went wide. If that happened, he or she would most likely drown if Isaac managed to get Tret to revert everyone back to normal.

A life was in danger. Isaac rushed forward, with Garet not far behind him. Garet immediately thrust his hand forward, the ghostly hand of psynergy forming in midair. The redhead guided the hand over to the tree, but to his horror, the hand could not reach far enough.

"Isaac! I can't reach!" Garet cried. That left Isaac with very little time to think. Thinking fast, he made a running jump into the river, grabbing a branch of the endangered tree, and then holding himself still with a rock. He shivered as the cold water coursed over his body, but he didn't let it stop him.

Isaac climbed onto the rock, balancing precariously on the tiny surface. Remembering his training with the Catch Beads, Isaac shot out his palm and concentrated. A large ghostly hand appeared and grabbed hold of the tree. It was extremely heavy, and as such he could hardly lift it without expending a large amount of psynergy. Isaac grunted and carried the tree as far as he could, but his concentration was rapidly slipping from a combination of the river's proximity, his need to balance on the rock, and the weight of the tree. "Garet! Grab it!" Isaac shouted desperately when the tree began to slip from his grasp.

The redhead sprinted to the edge and again summoned the white hand that was Move. He too, found the tree incredibly heavy, and he let out a cry when it began slipping from his grasp. However, Ivan was there in a flash, contributing to the effort with a powerful updraft, lessening slightly the weight that Garet had to carry.

With the combined effort of all three Adepts, the tree was safely placed back on dry land, saved from a watery grave. Panting, Isaac climbed back on shore, thoroughly soaked.

"Oh, praise Mercury," Mia whispered, holding a hand to her heaving chest. Isaac sat down next to the tree, taking a moment to catch his breath.

"If we had been even a moment slower…" Garet marveled, staring at the tree. "Ah, I don't even want to think about what might have happened."

"Yeah, it's a good thing we got here when we did," Ivan added.

At last, Isaac collected himself and he stood, facing the road that led in the direction of Kolima. "Yeah. Whoever that is will be thanking us later. Now come on, it's not much further."

"Right!"

* * *

The sun had just reached its zenith when the group found themselves at the entrance to Kolima forest.

"I sure am happy to see this place again," Garet declared once they had entered the forest once again.

"It's a wondrous place, but I wish it were healthy again. All of these stumps make me sad," Mia expressed, resting a hand on what had once been a tall, proud tree. "And this is all whose fault?"

"Bilibin. Or, to be more exact, that Lady McCoy woman." Garet growled angrily. "Oh Kirin, I just wanna give that woman a piece of my fist!"

"Garet…don't you mean a piece of your mind?" Ivan asked with a raised eyebrow. The redhead turned his head and gave the teen a wicked grin.

"I know what I said."

Ivan gulped and turned back to Isaac, who was already heading deeper into the forest. "Wait up!"

They hadn't gone much further into the forest when they heard the sound of running footsteps heading their way. Isaac, Garet, and Ivan looked into the trees and saw the form of a very familiar woman running towards them.

"Laurel!" Garet gasped in horror. He was not scared to see Laurel, but more shocked by her appearance. While she was, of course, not wearing any clothes, it was her skin that drew his attention. She looked pale and sickly, and a silvery sheen of sweat covered her body. Her hair was stringy and stuck to her skin. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot, and her breathing was ragged and uneven.

Laurel reached them and collapsed. Garet ran forward and caught her before she could hit the ground, holding the nymph in his arms. "Y…young…ones…" she murmured weakly, barely able to keep her eyes open.

"Laurel! Stay with us! Keep those eyes open!" Garet cried to her, shock and worry stamped on his face. Isaac and Ivan rushed to her side, while Mia just looked on from afar, as she did not know Laurel as well as they did.

"What's the matter? How's Tret?" Ivan pressed, kneeling down beside Laurel and Garet.

"…Dying…the forest…dying…please…" Laurel didn't seem able to form a coherent sentence. Isaac stepped in front of them, his eyes narrowing with determination.

"Garet, can you carry her?" Isaac asked calmly. Garet stood up and nodded, still holding the limp nymph in his hands.

"She's not that heavy," the redhead answered simply. Isaac nodded as well, and then immediately set off towards where he knew Tret and Laurel's trees would be.

"Come on! We can't drag our feet while the forest is dying around us!" Isaac yelled, putting on a burst of speed. Ivan, Mia, and Garet set off after him, increasing their speed to keep up.

The trees of the forest no longer possessed green leaves, but instead the trees were colored red and brown, and some trees no longer had any leaves left. Even as they sprinted, leaves fell from the branches of the dying trees.

Unlike their last run during this forest, where they had taken quite a bit of time to reach Tret's tree, this time the Adepts practically flew through the forest. Any monsters in their way were cut down without mercy with their strongest attacks, until even the fiercer monsters fled before their wrath.

When they reached the manmade lake, Isaac noticed that the logs that they had used to cross had floated to random positions, making it so they weren't able to cross that way. Now, a fallen tree trunk wedged between two stumps blocked the only way to Tret's tree. Normally, Isaac would have tried to find another way around, but he didn't have the time for that.

Summoning up Flint in his mind, Isaac unsheathed his broadsword and brought it to bear. The blade turned a bright yellow, glowing with the pure essence of earth. With a bellowing cry, he zoomed forward and brought the sword forward, gathering a huge amount of his psynergy into the blade.

When the blade collided with the trunk, it slid right through like the tree was made of butter. An explosion sounded right afterwards, and the trunk fragmented into pieces, opening the way forward.

The group entered the clearing where Tret and Laurel's trees stood. Lying on the ground near Tret's tree was Tret himself, his aged form looking pale and close to death. Isaac could see a huge gash in the side of Tret's tree that was more the likely the source of its pain. If Isaac didn't know better, the wound must have bee infected, if the blackened tendrils spidering away from the gash were anything to go by. He didn't know how a cut on a tree could be infected, but he didn't have the time to ponder that.

"Waters of Hermes, now!" Isaac demanded. Mia nodded and withdrew a canteen that held the Waters from her bag, and then passed it to Isaac. He quickly ran over to the gash in Tret's tree and gently poured half of the contents over it. Without looking to see the results, Isaac moved on to Tret himself. He was still alive, but barely. Isaac forced open the unconscious man's mouth and poured the rest of the Waters inside, and then massaged his throat to make sure he swallowed it.

The group watched in tense silence at the forest, Tret, and Laurel, looking for any sign of change. However, their spirits fell as nothing seemed to happen.

"Guys, look!" Mia cried excitedly, pointing up. All eyes followed her finger to see a wondrous event. The red and brown leaves of the trees in the forest were swiftly turning green again, and new leaves sprouted on bare branches at a blinding speed.

The same thing was happening on a colossal scale to every other tree in the forest at the same time, life beginning anew where life had ended. Wildlife emerged from hidden lairs to view with wide eyes the rebirth of their home.

"Huzzah! We did it! Huzzah!" Garet shouted excitedly, gazing down at Laurel's face.

"All right! Isaac!" Ivan cheered.

Isaac looked down to see the color returning to Tret's face at a swift pace. The old man's eyelids fluttered, and then opened, a look of wonder crossing his wizened face. Even as Isaac watched, the wrinkles on the man's face began tightening, until they disappeared. His skin youthened, his eyes grew bright, and his jaw line grew more defined. The bags under his eyes faded away, and muscles bulged where none had been before. Instead of an old man, Isaac was looking at the figure of a man in about his early thirties, if he had to guess. It was almost as if the Waters of Hermes had restored his youth as well as his health.

"Hroom…I can feel a great power spreading through me…" Tret sat up even as he spoke, gazing in shock at his hands. Isaac couldn't help but let a happy grin cross his face. He glanced at Tret's tree, and sure enough, the gash had closed up and any sign of infection was gone. Tret suddenly leapt agilely to his feet, an ecstatic look crossing his face. "Life is flowing through me once again!"

"Laurel!" Garet cried happily as the nymph in his hands gained back her color and beauty. He let her down, and she stood on her own two feet. She saw Tret, and the happiest smile Isaac had ever seen her wear crossed her pretty face.

"Tret!" she cried with sheer happiness, bounding with newfound energy over the roots of her tree and embracing her brother warmly. Tret boomed with laughter and returned the embrace. "As you have recovered, so has the forest!"

Isaac smiled, standing with his friends in a row, watching the happy siblings enjoy their newfound health. The blonde glanced over at Garet, whose eyes were tearing up. The redhead met Isaac's gaze, and he put on a grin. He reached out his hand, which Isaac took, and the two shared a brotherly hug, in celebration of their hard won victory. Ivan laughed happily at the sight, while Mia stood back and watched with a smile.

"I'm sorry to have worried you so, my sister," Tret apologized to Laurel. The nymph laughed and released her brother, the two of them gazing with happiness at one another.

"This is wonderful! And I have all of you to thank for it!" Laurel cried in happiness. She pranced over to the group, reaching Ivan first. She embraced the teen warmly, taking him completely and utterly by surprise. Then, she kissed him on both cheeks. "Thank you Ivan!"

The blonde's cheeks went crimson in embarrassment, but Laurel was already moving on. She reached Isaac, and then hugged him tightly before he could get away. Isaac tensed, but then allowed himself to hug her back, accepting her gratitude. He couldn't keep himself from blushing furiously when Laurel kissed him on both cheeks as well. "Thank you so much, Isaac!"

Mia was next. Even though Laurel did not know her, it did not stop the nymph from hugging her as well. Mia let out a comical little squeak of surprise, earning laughs from Ivan, Isaac, and Garet. Laurel again kissed her on both cheeks before releasing her. "Thank you for supporting them!"

At last, Laurel reached Garet. The redhead opened his arms to her, and she leapt into them with a happy giggle. Laurel looped her arms through Garet's and wrapped them over his shoulders, and then she pressed her face against the redhead's chest. Garet smiled and adjusted her hair for her. Laurel drew back with a smile, and then kissed the redhead passionately on the lips. Garet had not been expecting such a thing at all, and his face promptly turned as red as his hair.

"Thank you Garet, for everything," Laurel finally said when she released him. Garet had a stupid look of bliss on his face, and he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. Laurel gave him a wink and then turned towards Tret.

"Tret, you must turn all of the humans you transformed back to normal at once," she reminded the man. Tret nodded and turned to face due south.

"You are right. I must hurry," the man declared. He raised his strong arms in the air, a ring of strange shiny particles forming there. He let out a grunt, and then released them into the air. The ring expanded to an incredibly radius, and continued to spread, traveling over the landscape at an insane speed.

* * *

In the village of Kolima, it was as silent as a graveyard. Man shaped trees littered every open space in the village, right where they had been standing when they were transformed.

Then, Tret's magic passed over the town, showering the villagers with light. Almost immediately, the man shaped trees began changing, the bark turning into skin, the trees into hair, and the branches into arms and legs. Soon, the villagers were all freed, gazing around blinking with shock at their sudden freedom.

"We're…we're free…WE'RE FREE!" A villager shouted with glee, jumping into the air. Similar cheers erupted from around the village. The villagers would begin laughing and dancing in joy, reveling in their newfound ability to move after a long time of being rooted in place.

"I don't believe it…we're actually free!" another villager cried, picking up his child and cradling him.

Two children that had been playing around a tree stump when they had been transformed gazed at one another. One was a boy and the other was a girl. The girl's eyelids drooped and she yawned.

"Trees are…so sleepy," she murmured softly, lying down on the ground. The boy laughed, and then shrugged.

"Well I didn't mind being a tree. Water never tasted so good!" he replied, earning a sleepy giggle from the girl. Suddenly, he started, having thought of something.

"You know what? If we were all trees, then there would be no more wars. Because we'd be trees."

"You're so silly."

* * *

"That should do it. The humans will no longer be cursed."

"Huzzah!" Garet pumped his fist in the air in triumph. "And to think it was the psynergy stones that caused all this. Mind blowing, I tell you."

"If that is what those strange gem stones were called, then yes," Tret said, turning back to the group. "I was angry that humans had taken axes to my forest, and even myself, but I was unable to do anything about it until those gemstones fell into my branches. Then I lost myself to my anger."

"The stones seem to cause those affected to be controlled by their heart's base desire, which at that time for Tret was anger," Laurel conjectured. "Tret, do you know if any of the saplings were affected by the stones as well?"

"No. Only the elder trees were affected," Tret answered. Garet started at that.

"Wait, there are other trees this happened to?!" Garet exclaimed in worry. He looked over at Isaac and the others, his eyes wide.

"So the same thing could be happening elsewhere," Ivan added. Isaac suddenly had a horrible feeling that their experiences involving crazed trees were far from over.

"Those gems brought a great evil to this world. Pure hearted creatures are turning to monsters, and the dead are walking the land once more," Tret declared. He then executed an incredible jump to the branches of his own tree, and then soon returned with a psynergy stone in his hand. He bounced it there, and then passed it to Isaac, who promptly used it to restore the psynergy he'd used in the forest.

"That's not all," Laurel suddenly spoke. All attention turned to her. Her eyes were closed, and her body was glowing a light shade of lavender.

"Laurel! You were given powers too?" Garet exclaimed, moving to stand beside her.

"Indeed she was. Different than mine, but they stem from the same source," Tret answered for her. "What have you seen, Laurel?"

"A great number of monsters. Also, there is something south of the river…" she began.

"The river that feeds our forest?" Tret asked suspiciously. Laurel nodded, a grim look crossing her face.

"Yes…an evil forest has sprouted there. If you plan to go that direction, you must go soon. It will only grow more dangerous as time goes on," the nymph advised them.

"Well, we do need to go that direction, but we'll be going back to Bilibin first. There are a few things we need to wrap up there." Isaac replied. Laurel nodded.

"So we're leaving now?" Garet asked, a strange look crossing his face. Isaac nodded, already moving towards the exit of the clearing. He knew that Garet wanted to stay longer and talk to Laurel, but they didn't have that sort of time.

"We owe you a great debt. You have saved Kolima, the forest, and me," Tret told Isaac even as he led the group towards the exit. Laurel stood beside her brother waving happily after them as they left.

"Goodbye everyone! Be sure to come back and visit when you can!" Laurel cried after them. Garet turned around and gave the nymph a broad grin, waving after her.

"Oh I'll be back! You can count on that!" he promised her. Isaac grinned, and then at last the group passed out of sight.

* * *

The group strode through the suddenly active lumber camp, filled with rejoicing lumberjacks. They all paid little attention Isaac, except for one particular lumberjack that ran over to Ivan.

"Hey, were you that guy that was talking in my mind?" the lumberjack asked Ivan fervently. Ivan seemed confused for a few seconds before he remembered. "You're the guy I lent my fur coat to."

"Oh right…um…about that," Ivan stammered, pressing the tips of his index fingers together shyly. The lumberjack raised an eyebrow, and then he slumped over.

"You…lost it didn't you."

"Well, not exactly. Look, here. I have it in my bag," Ivan fished out what was left of the fur coat and held it forward. As it had been roasted in the fight with Saturos, it was nothing but a shirt of chainmail, as all the fur had been incinerated. The lumberjack looked at it in dismay, his jaw open.

"How the hell did you manage to ruin it to that degree? Hell, I'm not even mad. I'm mostly just impressed. Did you take on a dragon or something?" the man demanded, a wry grin replacing the look of dismay. Ivan chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

"Well…not exactly."

"Hell, he might as well have been a dragon," Garet muttered under his breath. Isaac and Mia chuckled at that. The lumberjack took the chainmail from Ivan and sighed, putting it in his back pocket.

"Well, at least you put it to good use. Thanks for saving us and all that, but I've gotta go find my family," the man said, and then took off running. Isaac sighed and continued leading his group out of the forest.

* * *

Feeling accomplished, the group headed back towards Bilibin. Evening fell as they approached the barricade, and Isaac could see the group of rejoicing people from a long way away.

When they reached the barricade, the people didn't particularly notice them, which made sense. The fact that it had been them who rescued everyone hadn't actually been broadcasted to the world just yet. Therefore, people moved to let them aside. However, they were halted just before they could pass through.

"Hey! You four! Wait! Please wait!" a female voice called them. Isaac turned in place to see three people running towards them. One of them was an older man between forty and fifty years of age, another was a younger man in his twenties, and the one who had called them was a young woman, also seeming to be in her twenties.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Isaac asked politely, though inwardly he just wanted to be on his way. The woman smiled happily.

"Hey. My name is Nelly. You saved my life earlier today, when you rescued me from being swept downstream," the woman introduced herself, extending her hand. Ivan, who was behind Garet, grinned with amusement. This was the woman that had apparently should have been dieting but hadn't been. Though she wasn't fat in any way.

"Yeah I remember. Nice to meet you," Isaac replied politely, taking her hand and shaking it firmly.

"Thank you. Nothing I can give you would ever be enough for the gift of my daughter's life," the older man told them. "Though this is the least I can do. I won't listen to any complaints."

Isaac blinked as the older man pressed a small coin purse in his hands. He looked inside to see a good amount of coins in there. He thought about protesting, but decided against it when he saw the look on the man's face.

"Thank you, but I was only doing what's right," Isaac responded. The older man smiled, and then he began steering his family away.

"If only other boys your age shared your morals. Now, I have to get back to Kolima. Stay safe out there," he told them sincerely. Isaac nodded and turned back around.

"All right, let's get past this barricade," Ivan said. That was when the group heard a very familiar voice.

"Damn it Nelly, I don't care what you say. When we get back to Kolima, you're going on that diet even if I have to force you!" Isaac, Garet, and Ivan burst out laughing, though they did their best to muffle the sound. They laughed even harder when they heard the sound of the speaker getting the hell smacked out of him.

"Excuse me!? If that's the way you're going to talk, then you're sleeping on the floor tonight!" Nelly could be heard replying angrily. Even Mia got a laugh out of that one.

When Isaac reached the now open barricade, he caught Ryven's eye. The guard was standing next to a woman who Isaac assumed to be his wife. The guard lifted his hand and gave Isaac and his friends a respectful salute and a nod.

* * *

Night finally fell and the group made camp just south of the river. There, Mia made dinner and they ate in ease. When they were heading for Mercury Lighthouse, their meals had been somber and tense, but now they were merry, as they had a reason to feel proud. They had saved a lot of people today, and it wasn't a feeling they were soon to forget.

The next morning, the group set off in the direction of Bilibin once more. From where they were now, it was a straight shot to the northwest. Without a single cloud in the sky and the sun shining down on them, they made good time, until at last they were forced to set camp once more. They could see Bilibin just over the top of a hill, but the village was likely to be closed at this time, so Isaac decided that it would be better just to sleep outside for now and walk there in the morning.

* * *

The group at last reached the gates of Bilibin, which were wide open. Unlike before, the village was full of the sound of laughter and happiness. Standing atop the village gates were several soldiers, and when they caught sight of Isaac's group, they immediately made a clamor.

"It looks like we're going to get a hero's reception," Garet commented. "I wonder if they'll feed us. I could go for some real food."

"I second that," Mia added, surprisingly enough. When she noticed Ivan and Isaac staring at her, she looked defensive. "What? I've never traveled before, and I don't find travel rations to my taste, is all."

"No, that's not it. I'm just not used to people agreeing with Garet that often," Isaac remarked. Mia giggled at that, while Garet sputtered indignantly.

A soldier walked out of the village gates, his visor up and his weapon in his hand. Isaac recognized him as Captain Jace, the one who had given them access to the treasury, paying for whatever they took from his own pocket. Isaac smiled and waved at the man.

"Well I'll be damned," Jace commented, promptly throwing his weapon to the ground and walking up to meet them. "By the gods, you did it. You actually did it."

* * *

I'm going to end that chapter there. Now, I want to discuss a few things. So, first off. The Mia-Nereid scene. (Fuck you word and your green squiggly lines on my fragments) I know I may have disappointed those who expected a lemon, but I decided to go the humor route instead of the sex route. It does get a bit explicit there though, like how Garet finds some of her…well…you know…inside the tent. Mia definitely had some fun. Though I bet she didn't appreciate Garet's remarks.

Also, the staff that the villager gave to Mia? Basically that's my way of turning the Blessed Ankh into a plot device. Yeah, that weapon that invokes the Psyphon Seal. That will be an awesome ability to use in a future random battle/boss fight.

Yeah, I put in the scene where you have to save one of the trees. We saved Nelly! Who by the way does NOT go on a diet later because she isn't fat…her boyfriend is an asshole.

Also, you know how you can't go through obstacles? I thought that over and was like, okay, you have a very short time to heal Tret otherwise hundreds of people will die. All right, let's drain the lake and move the logs around! Fuck no. I said screw the rules, I have a sword!

I'm so freaking happy I finalyl got to the point where I could use that hilariously awesome quote about the trees. That's the main reason I showed Kolima being reborn. I just wanted to use that quote.

Okay, here's the best part. What would your reaction be if I said that I am inventing a pairing that has never been used before? I present…forest fire shipping! In case you can't tell, that's LaurelxGaret. LOLZ! Yeah, I'm probably not going to do that, but I _could _(key word being "could") if I wanted to. But nah I'm just putting that out there because it would be hilarious and because I bet no one's ever written a pairing like that.

One last comment before I do shoutouts. So I recently finished watching the entire dragon ball Z anime. Can I just say, my roommate hated me when all of a sudden, at like 3 in the morning, I pump my fists in the air and scream "TAKE THAT MOTHERFUCKER!" (The motherfucker being Kid Buu, of course) because at that point in time, the Genki-dama was turning him into space dust. Yeah I get really into my anime, and I was never happier to see a villain die. God, I fucking hated Buu. Though I loved seeing Freeza's face at that point. He's just like…"Oooof cooourse Goku won…bastard." Anyhow, onto the point I wanted to make. So I wrote the Curse chapter before watching the Freeza arc, so can I say how awesome it was that one of my characters shared a name with a member of the Ginyu Force?

In the last scene of this chapter, I should have had Jace jump out and do epic poses and scream "TOKUSENTAI! TOKUSENTAI!" LOL that would just be so hilariously awesome. Okay, I think I'm done. Shoutouts.

Kinglumption: Of course, one of my three signature reviewers, first as always. Yeah I don't know what was up with me. I was in the zone when I finished the Mercury lighthouse part II, so I just kept writing until ten thousand words later Saturos is defeated. Though as for Garet…

Garet: I have no idea what you're talking about!

*A blue cat peeks over his shoulder*

Happy: AYE SIR!

OMNISENSE95: And here's signature reviewer number II! Sorry about that. I didn't notice your review until after I posted the next chapter, and thus forgot to add you in. I could have added you in later, but that requires going into the site again, editing the document, making a replace chapter, and I was just too damn lazy for that. But I'm glad you like what I have.

Mr. E Box: All right, my third and last signature reviewer! I got not one, but two reviews from this guy! So I'm going to address all of them. Firstly, the siren. I'm going to just go ahead and say, that fight was pure monstergirl fan service for a friend of mine who likes monstergirls. (COUGHKAMECCOUGH) I did enjoy writing that fight though. Speaking of monstergirls, you asked me if I was going to include Dullahan. So what, a monster so powerful, it's stronger than even the doom dragon? Oh boy, that will be so much fun to write about. Though I will probably write it after the fight with the doom dragon as a sort of omake chapter, as that fight isn't really canon. Same thing goes for the Deadbeard fight, though that will come after the Saturos and Menardi battle. Though I just have to say, what the hell would I do for those? Detail them summon rushing the fuck out of it? Because I'm pretty sure that's how 90% of us managed to win those battles.

Kaeso Corvinus: Wow, I certainly had a lot of reviewers for that last chapter. Usually it's just OMNISENSE95, Mr. E Box, and kinglumption that review on everything, but now I had like six people review. I guess people liked the Saturos fight. Anyhow, yes I had something original for Ramses. Death traps! Because everyone loves a good death trap. Or is that just Lara Croft? Moving on.

Tyrant Ratatosk: God, do you know how many times I had to look at your name before I could finally spell it? Anyhow, I looked at both themes you recommended. They are both pretty great, though I have a sudden urge to crucify you for not listening to the Saturos theme…lol just kidding. Looking forward to seeing more reviews from you!

Keelah Se'lai,

The Proud Quarian,

Terran34


	19. Harsh Judgment

Holy crap, it's been almost another year. Shit. Well, allow me to explain. I actually haven't died; I've just spent a lot of time working on Darkness Reigns Supreme. But then I hit writer's block in that, so I came back to this. Then I hit writer's block about 1000 words into this chapter, so I put it down. And now here I am.

I've spent a lot of time on school and hanging out with friends, but recently my real-life friends treat me secondary to everything else, a sort of "last resort" as you will. Oh well. I've already accepted that I'll never find my own happiness, so I'm happy if they are. So basically I've been so bored, I overcame my writer's block. How does that work? I have no idea. I out bored writer's block. Fuck logic.

Disclaimer: Golden Sun belongs to Camelot. Not me. Because I'd go buy myself some more friends if I owed Golden Sun.

* * *

Almost immediately after the group was led inside the village, soldiers immediately surrounded them, all of who were smiling and laughing. Isaac found himself overwhelmed by the sheer amount of attention that was being focused on him.

"You kids did good!"

"We never should have doubted you!"

"Thank you for saving the village!"

Isaac laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. He was used to dealing with one or two people, but people congratulating him and his group were mobbing him. How was he supposed to react? Who was he supposed to focus his attention on? He felt like running, but thankfully Jace came to his rescue.

"All right, all right, don't crowd them. I don't exactly want them to suffocate before they even see Lord McCoy," Jace commanded, though there was a good-natured glint in his eyes. The soldiers complied reluctantly.

The villagers soon came, wondering what all of the commotion was about. All it took was one villager asking what was going on, and then word spread through the crowd that it had been Isaac and his group that had ended the curse. Now the amount of people mobbing Isaac had nearly tripled in size.

"Make way!" Jace demanded, moving ahead of Isaac and clearing the way forward.

Isaac noticed with some amusement that Garet was soaking up all the attention like a sponge. The redhead was strutting egotistically, while Mia was giggling into her hand behind him. Ivan was making a point not to look at them.

"Isaac, check it out! We're heroes!" Garet exclaimed, nudging Isaac in the back. The blonde puffed in annoyance.

"Can you just let me enjoy the moment without you stating the obvious?" Isaac snapped in good humor. Garet only laughed at that however, and resumed his strutting.

Jace led them through the village through clamoring crowd, until at last they stood before the palace. The two guards standing in front of the entrance noticed them and ran up to them excitedly.

"Oh, it's Captain Jacellius! We've been looking all over for you!" the first guard greeted them eagerly. The captain returned their greeting with a salute.

"These young men…are they the ones that broke the curse?" the second guard asked, gazing at Isaac, Garet, Mia, and Ivan. Isaac noticed with some amusement that he wasn't being called a child anymore. He guessed that saving their village definitely helped in how much respect he was shown.

"Yeah, it was nothing! That tree never stood a chance!" Garet boasted. Isaac let his face fall into his hand, while Ivan just gave the redhead an askance look. Someone seemed to have forgotten how difficult the battles actually were.

"Good to hear. Come with us, then. Lord McCoy is waiting," the first guard said, smiling widely. He opened the massive doors to the palace and gestured them in. Isaac walked in first to see that even the servants and other nobles here had heard of their success, and were coming out to see them, although they were a bit more composed than the common villager.

In reality, it had only been a few weeks since the group had been here last, but to Isaac, it felt like he had returned for the first time in years. Although he'd already seen the mansion, it was no less impressive this time around. He allowed himself to marvel at his surroundings, now that the atmosphere was less tense than his last visit.

The guard led them to Lord McCoy's chamber doors and was about to knock when McCoy himself opened the door, having heard them approach. There was a wide smile on his portly face, in contrast to the stern expression that Isaac had last seen him wear.

"Ye had best come in, lads. Ah bet yeh've quite th' tale tae share, eh?" Lord McCoy greeted them, opening the door wider and beckoning them inside. Isaac did so obediently, noticing with some surprise that there were chairs and a roaring fire waiting for them. "Make yeh'reselves at home."

"Don't mind if I do!" Garet replied happily, and then flopped down on the nearest chair, which was made of plush leather. There was a hiss of air as the redhead settled in the seat. Isaac sighed at his friend's blatant display of rudeness, but Lord McCoy did not seem to take offense, even chuckling a bit. Isaac showed a bit more discretion when choosing a seat, carefully making his way to the nearest chair and sitting down calmly. He was taken aback by how comfortable the chair was. Isaac had never felt the like before. He guessed having as much money as Lord McCoy had its benefits, especially if he could afford such comfort in his sizeable home.

"Ah don' think we've met. May ah ask yer name?" McCoy addressed Mia, who seemed taken aback at being spoken to. She blushed a little under the attention, and then looked to Isaac. He nodded in an assuring manner to her. Lord McCoy could be trusted, at least with that knowledge.

"I'm Mia, my lord. I…I joined up with them recently," she replied nervously. Lord McCoy nodded understandingly, and then sat down himself just behind his desk, the chair creaking in complaint.

"Nice tae meet ye, Mia. Ye can all just call me Scott," Lord McCoy said. Isaac found that odd. He had never heard of anyone having more than one name, but this was a different culture, so perhaps everyone in Bilibin had two names. "Yeh've all dun sae much fer th' village. Yeh've earned tha' right."

"We were just doing the right thing. The curse needed to be broken," Isaac replied in a somewhat modest manner. Ivan nodded in agreement, the blonde taking a seat next to Isaac. At Isaac's words, Scott looked a little sheepish, his fingers clutching the edge of the desk and tapping nervously.

"Ah owe ye an apology. Th' four o' ye have shoon me that I cannae judge someone by their appearance," the lord admitted, much to Isaac's surprise. He had figured Scott to be a prideful individual. If he was right, than apologizing to a bunch of teenagers must have been very hard for him. "If ah had jist given ye mah aid, ye wouldnae have had tae go tae sae much trooble."

"Don't worry about it. We do look rather young, so I don't blame you for trying to protect us," Ivan assured the older man. Scott shook his head, unsatisfied.

"Ah willnae be satisfied wi' jist 'at. Ah'll have mah butler tak' ye tae mah vault. Ah'm sure yeh'll fin' somethin' thaur 'at suits yer fancy," the lord decided. Isaac was even more surprised. Scott was going to let them peruse through his private vault? Granted, they did save his village, but he figured that he would have been far more obstinate about something as serious as his vault.

"Huh? Your vault? Really?" Garet repeated in disbelief, echoing Isaac's thoughts. Scott gave a knowing grin as he walked purposefully over to the door.

"Within reason, o' coorse," he said to Garet, and then he opened the door and whispered a few words to the guard standing just outside. The guard immediately saluted and stepped inside of the room, gazing at Isaac and the others expectantly. "Ye may take one thin' frae th' vault as yer reward. Thank ye again fer th' safety o' mah village."

Isaac, still a little in shock at how well they were being treated, followed the guard outside and into the hallway, with his friends close behind him.

"This is a huge load off my mind, you four," the guard said to them with a happy smile while they walked. "I'm sure you all knew, but the entire village was petrified, thinking that the curse would hit us next."

"I'm just glad we could do something," Garet replied, grinning. Isaac remembered with a smile of his own that they would never have been recognized for their efforts if Garet hadn't threatened to burn the palace down the first time they arrived in the town.

The guard led them through a series of hallways, and then down a staircase, until they found themselves in the palace treasury, where Ivan had acquired his first Djinni. However, unlike the last time they visited, the guard took them down a separate passage, through a set of locked doors, until at last Isaac found himself looking at a small room.

Lining the walls of the room were glossy wooden pedestals, upon which were various valuable items. Most of these items were useless to them. For example, Isaac noted several ornate golden statues. While valuable, Isaac was looking for something more practical.

"Well, you heard the lord. Take whatever you like from his collection. Just one thing, though," the guard expressed, indicating the collection of valuable items. Isaac nodded, and then he and his friends began looking through the vault.

"Wow, check this out," Garet gasped, leaning down and peering into a glass case. Isaac spared a look, but looked away with a wry grin when he saw Garet staring at a golden statue of a scantily clad woman. Mia also noticed, and she promptly shoved Garet away from the statue, looking exasperated.

"Hm, I wonder what this is," Ivan remarked. Isaac knew that the Jupiter Adept was more sensible than Garet, so he joined the blonde over by the pedestal and gazed inside.

Inside the glass case was an odd star-shaped ornament, made of gold. Isaac was about to sigh and admonish Ivan when he became aware of a faint aura of psynergy emanating from the object. Now Isaac was interested.

"You feel that, right?" Isaac asked. Ivan nodded in confirmation. "Excuse me, sir, can I get a closer look at this?"

The guard heard him and walked over to them. "Oh, you're interested in this thing? It's not really that useful, but you could probably sell it for a decent amount of cash," he commented, opening the case and handing the star to them. Isaac took it, exchanging a meaningful glance with Ivan. The guard clearly didn't know what he was looking at. Then again, neither did they, but it wasn't just some useless ornament.

"_Flint, do you have any idea what this is?" _Isaac thought, waking up the Djinni in his mind. The blonde heard Flint groan and awaken, and then a silence as he regarded the ornament.

"_Not a clue!" _Flint returned. Isaac let out a groan and let his face fall into his hand. He guessed that not even the Djinni could know everything about Alchemy. "_BUT! It's clearly a font of psynergy, like a psynergy stone, only greater. Why it exists, however, I have no idea."_

"Huh. Ivan, Flint says this is like a psynergy stone, only it holds more psynergy," Isaac related the information to Ivan, who nodded in understanding. "We might take this. Hey, Mia, have you found anything worth keeping?"

"Well, I found this statue…"

"I wasn't talking to you, Garet!"

"Sadly, no. It seems everything in here is more form than function," Mia answered after giggling at the exchange between Isaac and Garet.

"We'll take this, then," Isaac expressed to the guard, holding up the ornament. He guessed he'd just refer to it as a psy crystal, given the object's nature and odd shape.

"All right! In that case, allow me to escort you out," the guard responded, and soon the four were led back into the main part of the palace. "All right, Lord McCoy said that you all have free reign of the town, so I'm heading back to his room."

"All right. Thanks for your help, sir," Isaac politely bid him farewell. When the guard had left, Isaac looked at his friends, who gazed back expectantly. "Looks like we can finally continue on our journey."

The three nodded, and they began to walk towards the exit of the palace. "Do you know where we're going?" Mia asked as they moved.

"Somewhat. The only way forward, thanks to the destroyed bridge to Kalay, is through Kolima," Isaac answered. They had reached the limits of his geographical knowledge. As they traveled, Isaac was in charge of keeping the map updated, adding the locations of settlements as they discovered them. However, since Bilibin, they had reached no new settlements that needed to be marked.

"I'm certain someone in Kolima will know where the next settlement is," Ivan assured him. Isaac assented, finding that sensible.

"Well, all we need to know about is the location of the next lighthouse, right?" Garet questioned. Isaac had to admit that the redhead had a point.

"There's no way of knowing where the next one is. We'll just have to play it by ear," Isaac pointed out.

The group soon exited the palace to find themselves in the courtyard. To their shock, they discovered that there was practically a party going on in the town. Every Isaac looked he could see tables haphazardly placed, with food and drink placed upon them. He could even see the shopkeepers out there, keeping the tables stocked. Spirits were high and the air was filled with the sound of merriment and joy. Isaac couldn't help but smile, knowing that all this happiness came about as a result of their efforts.

He also noticed that the construction workers that had been working on Lady McCoy's palace were also abandoning their posts and rushing down the stairs from the plateau to join the festivities.

Suddenly, Isaac saw Lady McCoy appear on top of the plateau and grab the collar of one of the workers before he could get lost in the crowd. The woman looked furious. When she spoke, her words were loud enough for Isaac and his friends to hear.

"Where do you think you're going?! Does my palace look finished to you?" Lady McCoy snapped at the hapless worker.

"B…but…this is a special occasion…surely you'll let us take a break?" the worker stammered, attempting to back away from the angry woman, but her grip on his collar was firm.

"A break?! I don't think so! I want to live in a palace as soon as I can, and I'm not going to wait just so you slackers can get drunk!" Lady McCoy shrieked, shaking the frightened worker.

Isaac sighed, and was about to turn away when he felt psynergy flare up from behind him. He turned around to see a thunderous expression on Garet's face. "Garet…don't…" Isaac began, but he was too late to stop the redhead from storming past him, through the crowd, and towards the staircase where Lady McCoy was standing. "Garet!"

"This isn't going to end well," Ivan groaned. Isaac gestured for Ivan and Mia to follow him, and then he rushed after Garet to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

"Now we're going to go and find the other workers, and you are going to get to work, otherwise I'll make sure you never get work in this…" Lady McCoy was working herself up into a frenzy, but this came to a screeching halt when suddenly Garet was there. The redhead brazenly stepped between them, clamping onto the woman's wrist with a vice-like grip. "W…what?"

Garet easily overwhelmed her with his superior strength, and wrenched her hand away, freeing the worker. "Go and enjoy yourself. I'll deal with her," Garet said to the shocked worker, throwing Lady McCoy's hand away. Then the redhead smiled at the worker, who looked unsure of himself. "Go on. Tonight's on us."

The worker smiled widely and thanked him, before running off into the crowd and becoming lost in the party. Suffice to say, Lady McCoy was not happy. She tried to storm past Garet, but he blocked her way, glaring at her furiously. "How dare you!? They are my workers, and I'm paying them to do their jobs! You have no right!" she snapped at him. Isaac arrived just as Garet was responding.

"Oh, I have got quite the bone to pick with you," Garet replied, shoving her back on the plateau, laughing in a threatening manner. "Your workers? Your money? Must I remind you that your damn palace nearly got the lot of them killed?!"

"I don't care about any of that! I am a lady of the highest caliber, and I deserve to live in a fine palace of my own. They should be honored to assist me in my endeavors!" Lady McCoy returned. "Now if you don't mind, I need to track my workers down."

"You're not going anywhere," Garet snarled, blocking her way yet again. "You don't care? You'd sacrifice the lives of everyone in this town just so that you can have a damn palace?! You're despicable!"

"A life lost in the pursuit of my happiness is a life well spent!" Lady McCoy shot back.

"Are you fucking kidding me? These people have families and children, and you're willing to let them all die just for your own happiness?! Think about it! What use is a palace if there's no one to reign over?" Garet shouted back at her, taking a step forwards. Lady McCoy backed away, growing frightened at Garet's fervor. "I suppose you still don't care. All you can think about is yourself. It's a marvel how a good man like Scott got involved with a gold-digging bitch like you!"

"G…guards!" the lady gasped, her eyes wide. Isaac suddenly realized that if the town guard got involved, this would spiral into a town-wide incident. They couldn't afford to be detained, so Isaac approached Garet, placing a hand on the redhead's shoulder.

"Garet…let's go. We don't need to waste our time on her," Isaac beseeched his friend, only for Garet to shake him off angrily.

"You two! Arrest this man this instant!" Lady McCoy shrieked at two armored men that had rushed to the scene at her call. The guards glanced at Garet, immediately recognizing him. They scoffed, and then turned away, much to the lady's shock. "H…hey! Guards!"

Lady McCoy turned to another set of guards, only for them to exhibit the same reaction, abandoning her. "You're all worthless!"

"Doesn't this tell you something, when not even the guards will help you?" Garet pointed out. Isaac was also surprised by this turn of events. However, it didn't seem like things were going to calm down, as he could see Lord McCoy himself arriving at the scene, escorted by two guards that had probably seen the incident.

"Oh, husband! Darling! Please put these unruly children behind bars! This red haired one seems like he's going to attack me!" Lady McCoy pleaded, adopting a pitiful expression, and then she rushed to her husband's side.

"Hundreds of people could have died, and it would have been all her fault! Yet she doesn't care about anything other than her palace!" Garet shot back.

Scott sighed, rubbing his forehead, as if he had a headache. He remained silent, as he regarded the scene. He saw Lady McCoy acting like a weak, innocent woman again, like she always did when she was in the wrong. He saw Isaac, Garet, Ivan and Mia, who had surpassed his every expectation and saved hundreds of lives from the curse of the Sacred Tree. Scott had been thinking about this situation long and hard since it began, and this situation helped him come to a decision.

"Ach, yer right, lads. Ah dinnae ken how ah hadnae seen it afair now," Scott finally began to speak. It was difficult for Isaac to understand what he was saying due to his thick accent, but it suddenly dawned on him. If Scott was doing what Isaac thought he was doing...

Scott adopted a solemn expression and turned to his wife. "Ah agree wit Garet. Yoo've dun naethin' but leech aff th' town's funds, aw fer yer selfish desires," he began. Isaac's eyes went wide as he heard that. Was Scott really going to side with them over his wife? Lady McCoy seemed similarly shocked.

"What? But darling…" she started, but Scott didn't let her finish.

"Debra, fer yer transgressions against mah people, yoo're henceforth stripped ahf yer name and banished frae Bilibin," Scott declared. His words caused everyone within hearing distance to gasp. Lady McCoy stuttered incoherently, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. Scott ignored her and turned to the group of guards that had gathered during the argument. "Captain, if yoo woold please escort 'er tae th' village gates?"

One of the guards lifted his visor, revealing himself to be Jace, who gave Isaac and the others a smile, before carrying out his orders. The captain, accompanied by another guard, strode over to Debra, now stripped of her title, and grabbed her arm roughly.

"H…hey! You…you can't do this to me!" she screamed, but nobody really paid attention as she was dragged away from the scene.

"Shut the hell up, bitch, or I swear to god I'll run you through," Jace growled at her, while the other guard laughed.

"The rest o' ye, ah want 'er palace torn doon, an' th' wood used tae improve th' village," Scott then addressed the other guards without missing a beat. Isaac's respect for the man had gone up by quite a bit. It seemed like when he made a decision, he stuck to it. Perhaps Garet's meddling had actually paid off for the village. Isaac then saw Scott wink at his guards and smile broadly. "O' coorse, ye can worry aboot tha' on th' morn. Tonight, we celebrate! Dismissed!"

The guards let out a rousing cheer and split in all directions, joining the ever growing party that Isaac was sure was going to last all day. Isaac could help but smile. This was probably the best way this could have turned out, in his opinion.

Scott turned back towards them. He walked forward and rested a hand on Garet's shoulder, smiling down at him. "Ahm sorry ye had tae see 'at. Ahm grateful fer helpin' me see whit she was truly like," he said, addressing Garet. The redhead had finally cooled down after seeing the banishing of the object of his anger, and as such he nodded breathlessly. Scott then looked pensive. "Say, whit do ye four plan tae dae efter thes? If ye'd like, ah got some free space in mah palace."

"Whoa, that's a very generous offer," Isaac gasped, a sentiment that was echoed by his friends. He guessed they had made a very serious impact on this town, seeing as its lord was offering them room in his palace. "I appreciate it greatly, but we can't accept it. You see, we're on a journey that we can't afford to put off."

"Ah see. Jus' ken tha' there's always a place fer ye in Bilibin," Scott answered after a short pause. "When are ye leavin'?"

"Probably right after this. We've still got plenty of time in the day," Isaac answered after looking to his friends for confirmation. Scott nodded, though he looked saddened.

"In 'at case, ah'll take ye tae th' gates," Scott replied. Isaac smiled, and then the four went with Bilibin's lord to the exit of the village.

The other villagers greeted them with loud, raucous cheers of joy and praise, directed at both Isaac and his friends, and Scott as well, as the townsfolk had seen Captain Jacellius kicking Debra out of town.

When they reached the gates, Isaac looked around to see many people gathered, including many of those he recognized. Jace stood at the gates, smiling broadly when he saw them approached. Even Verne, the one who had told them about the curse in the first place, was there.

"Well, we're off," Isaac said to the group of villagers that had gathered to see them off.

"Thank you for everything," Mia added. Garet and Ivan also expressed their farewells.

With their farewells out of the way, Isaac turned and left the village, smiling to himself. This couldn't have turned out any better. No doubt Bilibin would thrive and grow from here on out.

He looked over his shoulder one last time to see Scott, Jacellius, Verne, and the rest of the villagers standing at the gates, waving after them. They continued to wave until Isaac lost sight of them.

The group traveled in silence, no one saying a word, until at last Ivan broke the silence. "Well…that went well," he remarked. Mia's response was to break into a fit of giggles. Ivan couldn't help but laugh along. Isaac and Garet joined them. Nothing was particularly funny to them, but it was doing in wonders in lifting the tension they had felt not long ago. From here on, they had no worries, and no pressing objectives aside from the overall goal of defeating Saturos and Menardi.

"Garet, you should have seen your face!" Mia managed to get out, leaning on her ankh staff as she walked. Garet scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Rawr, selfish woman!"

"I did not say 'rawr!'" Garet snapped playfully, causing Mia to laugh harder. Then the redhead caught Isaac's eye, and his face fell. "Sorry about losing my temper back there, Isaac."

"Don't worry about it. In the end, everything turned out for the best, and that's all that really matters," Isaac replied graciously. He was in a good mood, all things considering, so he didn't feel like harping on Garet that much. Garet sighed in relief.

"I guess our next stop is Kolima. There, we can find out what the nearest settlement is," Ivan suggested.

"Good idea," Isaac responded.

* * *

The group set off towards Kolima, following the road southeast. Thankfully the weather was clear, so they made good progress. When they passed the small forest that bordered the road on their right, a group of rats and zombies assaulted the, but they had no idea what they were dealing with. The group had grown much stronger since the beginning of their journey. With the power of six Djinn behind them, they annihilated the monsters without breaking a sweat. Forge, Breeze, and Granite made an incredible combination, making it so that they didn't even need to block the monsters' attacks, as their pitiful claws couldn't breach their defenses.

When night fell, they took shelter under the same rocky cliff with the tree growing on its summit, as it was such a convenient campsite. Isaac took last watch, which was his favorite, while Ivan took first. During his watch, Isaac trained with the Catch Beads until he could use the psynergy without needing the beads near him. Satisfied with his progress, Isaac resolved to give the beads to someone else in the group, so that they too could learn it.

In the morning, the group set off once more, hoping to reach the barricade by midday. In fact, Isaac was sure that this would indeed happen, as they were following familiar terrain after all. He had traveled this route about three times now. Travel was still uncomfortable, but he wasn't feeling as bad as he used to at the beginning of his journey. Strong leg muscles had formed along his travels, and calluses had formed on his feet to prevent blistering.

* * *

"Huh? Where's the barricade?" Garet asked in confusion when they reached the segment of road that headed north. Isaac looked, and sure enough, the place where the barricade had been was now empty.

"Remember Garet? They built it to prevent people from going to Kolima. Now that the curse is done with, they don't need it anymore," Ivan explained.

"I guess that makes sense. Aww, I wanted to feel awesome again," Garet complained. Isaac gave him a disbelieving look.

"What? You mean being in Bilibin, where they threw a village-wide party because of us, wasn't enough?" Isaac questioned. Garet shrugged and grinned.

"Yeah, man that felt great, but feeling awesome like that never gets old," he replied.

"It did feel pretty good," Mia admitted. "Even though I didn't really do anything. I was just along for the ride."

"That's not true, Mia. We would never have made it out of that lighthouse without you. Saturos would have destroyed us." Isaac assured her, even though it killed him to admit his own weakness. He needed to get stronger, so that the next time he fought Saturos he could win on his own.

"Thank you, Isaac. I'll do my best to keep being of help," Mia said gratefully. The group fell into silence, and then they continued on their way.

* * *

The four reached Kolima by nightfall, and the first thing Isaac noticed were the bright lights emanating from the town. He could see brightly colored lanterns strung from branch to branch, house-to-house. He could also hear the sounds of music and peoples' voices.

"Seems like they're partying too," Garet commented with a grin. "Think they'll have free food?"

"Ooh, that sounds good," Mia agreed. She and Garet rushed ahead of them. Isaac chuckled a little at their enthusiasm.

"Come on, Ivan. We don't want to get left behind," he remarked. Ivan sighed, and then the two of them picked up the pace in order to catch up with their overzealous friends.

Garet and Mia reached the village first, and found that the villagers didn't particularly care that they were outsiders. They were welcomed into the gathering with nary a second glance.

Isaac and Ivan arrived soon after. Isaac smiled as he watched the townspeople party. Though it had been several days since the curse was lifted, it seems like the party had no intention of dying down. Perhaps they had spent a few days preparing for it and then started it. Either way, Isaac felt good, because it was thanks to him and his friends that this party was happening.

It didn't seem like the villagers knew who saved them, seeing as they weren't mobbed the moment they entered the village.

Isaac pushed his way through the crowd until he reunited with Garet and Mia. He was now standing in the center of town, where several of the villagers were dancing to upbeat, celebratory music. Isaac was shocked to see Laurel, in her leafy form, dancing with the villagers as well.

"Garet!" Laurel suddenly noticed the presence of her favorite redhead among the crowd. She pranced over to him and grabbed him by the arm.

"Laurel…uh…" Garet stammered, his eyes once again falling to a place they shouldn't. However, he did look happy to see her.

"Come dance! This party is celebrating your deeds, after all," Laurel requested. Garet looked at Isaac, as if wordlessly asking for permission. Isaac sighed, and then smiled at him.

"Go on. It's nightfall anyway," Isaac conceded. Then he looked at all of his friends. "Actually, why don't all of you go and blow off some steam. We'll meet back up at the inn in a few hours."

"Hell yes! We have the best leader ever!" Garet exclaimed happily, causing Laurel to giggle. The two of them linked arms and moved to the dance floor.

"Sounds good. We've been on the road so long, I could use a little fun," Mia agreed.

"I guess it couldn't hurt to mingle every now and then," Ivan admitted. He glanced at the dancing villagers with a wistful smile. He looked like he wanted to join in, but didn't have a partner. Isaac smiled knowingly. He nudged Ivan lightly, and then stealthily indicated Mia, who had moved off in search of food.

"W…what?" Ivan was confused by the gesture. Isaac facepalmed, and took a step closer to his friend.

"Go on, ask her to dance," Isaac whispered, and then pushed him lightly in her direction. Ivan colored slightly, but did move towards Mia.

"Shall we dance, Mia?" Ivan asked, somehow managing to sound smooth despite how red his face was. Mia's face also turned a little pink, but she took Ivan's offered hand, and let him lead her to the dance floor.

Isaac watched them go with a smile, and then navigated his way through the crowd, looking for the inn. He had some organizational issues to deal with before he could let himself rest.

He got directions from a local, and soon found his way to the inn, which like all the other buildings was grown from a tree. He wondered if he shouldn't join the party himself, but then he reasoned that it wouldn't be proper for him to dance with some random girl. Not to mention, Isaac thought to himself, he didn't know how to dance. The only time he'd ever danced was when he was a kid, at a New Year celebration. That was with Jenna, before Isaac had been old enough to realize he was head over heels for her. He blushed to himself just thinking about it. If only things hadn't had to change.

Isaac entered the inn, and was greeted by the innkeeper. It cost him ten of their remaining coins for a room, but that barely left a dent on their coin purse. Like before, it was relatively easy to get money by killing monsters or finding it on the road.

Once he was in the room, Isaac took off his travel pack and placed it on the floor. He sat down, opening up the bag and checking their supplies. This was so he knew what to get in the morning, before they set out again.

Isaac kept at it until he could no longer keep his eyes open. At that point, he hopped up on the bed and went to sleep, knowing that they were safer than anywhere else in Kolima, thanks to the presence of the two benevolent tree spirits.

* * *

"_Hey, aren't you leaving soon? Wake up, I'm tired." _Flint was the one who roused Isaac the next morning, when the first rays of sunlight were showing over the horizon. The blonde rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stretched. Then he stood up and started getting ready to move.

He hadn't heard his friends come in last night, though given how deeply they were sleeping Isaac guessed that they had stayed up for a long time. He chuckled to himself when he imagined how tired they would be when he woke them.

"Come on, everyone. It's time to move," Isaac addressed them all in a loud voice, hoping that at least one would wake up. To his luck, Ivan stirred, yawning.

"Already? I should not have stayed up so late…" the blonde lamented. Isaac laughed, having expected as much.

"Wake the others up for me, and then meet me downstairs. I've got to ask the innkeeper a few questions," Isaac ordered. He waited until he saw Ivan nod in acknowledgement, and then he descended the spiral wooden staircase.

"Good morning, traveler," the innkeeper greeted Isaac as he entered the lobby.

"Morning. If you don't mind, could I ask you something?" Isaac asked, walking over to the counter.

"Of course. How can I help you?" The innkeeper watched as Isaac pulled out a roll of paper from his bag and unrolled it on the counter. It was a map of Angara, upon which were marked the locations that his group has visited along their journey. Kolima was the farthest settlement marked; beyond that was just a rough sketch of the landscape.

"Could you point out where the nearest settlement is?" Isaac asked. The innkeeper nodded.

"I can do more than that. Here," the man grabbed a quill and inkwell from underneath the counter. He dipped the quill into the ink and began adding details to the map. Isaac saw him tracing out the route of the river that bordered Kolima to the south, and then adding the path of the road. Lastly, he marked the locating of two different landmarks. Nestled against a small mountain range along the eastern shore of Angara, Isaac noticed him put down the first landmark. He labeled it "Fuchin Temple."

"You'll probably want to stop here. The monks there mostly spend their time meditating, but they'll certainly house you for a night," the innkeeper advised him. Isaac nodded. That was a solid idea. They could also restock there, given how much Garet eats. Speaking of Garet, Isaac could hear them walking down the staircase behind him.

"Also, I don't know how accurate this is, but right before the curse hit us, a few reports stated that a forest had suddenly sprouted up south of the temple," the man warned, circling the spot in question on the map.

"Oh right. Didn't Laurel warn us about that?" Garet recalled, as he was now standing at the counter next to Isaac. Behind him were Ivan and Mia, who were whispering to one another about a subject Isaac couldn't make out.

"We'll take care. Thanks for your help, sir," Isaac said gratefully to the man, who gave them a small bow.

"No problem. May your travels go well."

With that, Isaac gathered up all of his possessions, and then they left the inn. Outside, Isaac was amused to find the place a mess. Remnants of the party last night were strewn about the clearing. It didn't seem like anyone was planning on cleaning it all up just yet, which made sense, as they were probably all recovering from all the ale that had flowed last night.

"Did you all have fun last night?" Isaac asked conversationally as they moved towards the eastern exit of town.

"Oh, it was great. I had a _lot_ of fun with Laurel," Garet replied instantly. Isaac raised an eyebrow at that, given the peculiar manner in which he had said it. She had been in her leaf form, so it's not like they could have had _too _much fun.

"That's good to hear. What about you two?" Isaac moved on to his other friends, shrugging at Garet's words.

"It was a lot of fun. Thanks for letting us cut loose a little," Ivan replied, giving a small glance to Mia, with whom he had spent most of the night. Mia didn't catch it, but Isaac did.

"You're welcome."

* * *

Isaac stopped at the town shop to restock on supplies, and then the group was on the road once more, with no particular destination in mind. Isaac knew the way as far as the unknown forest, but after that he had no idea where to go. Even Ivan hadn't been this far east before, as he had never traveled with Hammet whenever the merchant would go to buy silk in the east.

The road led northeast for a while, until it took a sharp curve to the southeast. However, Isaac saw something there the likes of which he'd never seen.

"Whoa…" Isaac gasped as he stood on the cliff's edge. According to the map, they were on the northeast edge of Angara, which was bordered by the ocean. Apart from Mia and Ivan, none of them had ever had a chance to appreciate the ocean before, and as such Isaac took a short break to gaze out over the endless water.

"Kraden was right. There really is a thing of endless water at the end of the world," Garet whispered in awe. "It's breathtaking."

"You know we could see the sea a few miles from Imil, right? Why didn't you look at it then?" Mia asked, somewhat annoyed at the sudden halt. Isaac scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Well, you see, we didn't really look because we were too busy chasing Saturos and Menardi," he admitted.

"Besides, wouldn't it have been frozen anyway? It's winter in Imil, for Kirin's sake," Garet added.

"You do have a point there," Mia assented, and then she stood by Ivan's side, who was waiting impatiently as well.

"Someday, we'll have to travel out there," Isaac decided, turning away from the ocean. "In fact, we'll probably have to, considering how the four elemental lighthouses are scattered all over Weyard."

"All right, now that you two are done gawking, let's move," Ivan remarked, causing Garet to shove him playfully.

"It's not our fault we're not rich and pampered like you are. We'd never left Vale before this journey," Garet shot back. Isaac laughed as they began moving once more.

* * *

They made camp at the edge of a small forest that bordered the river to the east. Thankfully, no monsters attacked them that night, allowing them all to make up for the sleep they lost the night before. Isaac was unfortunately stuck with second watch, which was his least favorite.

The next morning, they packed up camp and set off again, following the road away from the ocean and onto a peninsula created by the river taking an odd backwards S-shaped course. At the end of the peninsula, there was a large drawbridge that allowed people to cross the river and head further south, towards Fuchin Temple.

There was a lone man watching the drawbridge. When he saw them approaching, he gave a loud whoop of jubilation and rushed to meet them.

"You don't understand, I thought no one would cross this bridge again!" the man had expressed to them joyfully. Isaac figured that he must have been transformed into a tree as well. It wasn't that farfetched, seeing as Tret had managed to affect people as far away as the Bilibin Barricade, and this was much closer to Kolima.

The man didn't impede their progress any more, and they continued on their way.

Following the map, Isaac led the group south along the road. They were sandwiched between two tributaries of the same river that they had been following since Bilibin. Suffice to say, they were never short of fresh water to drink.

When night fell, they had to set up camp in the open, as they were on the open plains, with only a few sparse trees. Clouds were rolling in from the east, and Isaac couldn't help but sigh. It seemed like the weather was going to take a turn for the worse in the next few days.

The next morning, as Isaac had predicted, a light rain was falling from the grey skies. It wasn't enough to slow their progress, but it was definitely annoying. It chilled them even more than the wintry air did as they continued on their quest.

The mountain range in which Fuchin Temple could be found loomed on the horizon. Isaac guessed that it would probably be another day or two before they reached the temple.

A rocky outcropping in the foothills of the mountain range served as the perfect shelter that night from the falling rain. Isaac had wanted to push them through the night to reach Fuchin Temple, but he had been overruled by the others, namely Mia, because she wasn't as used to travel as they were. Isaac understood, but he had secretly been looking forward to resting in a bed that night. Unfortunately, that would have to wait for the next day. In fact, they may not even need it, because Isaac was sure that they would reach Fuchin Temple in the morning, and would more than likely move on before the day was through.

In the morning, they began to move again. Isaac noticed on his right, across the river, he could see the large forest that had been marked on his map. However, the trees seemed…odd to him. The bark was twisted and gnarled, and the branches were sharp and seemed vicious. The leaves were dark and sickly looking, and he could see thorny vines and other poisonous looking plants clinging to the trees like parasites. Isaac shuddered, not liking what he saw.

"Hey, you think that's the evil forest Laurel warned us about?" Garet asked, giving voice to Isaac's misgivings.

"That's…south of the river, right? That tree nymph did mention something of the sort around this area," Mia clarified. She glanced at the dark forest warily.

"It certainly looks evil," Isaac agreed, joining the conversation at last. "I don't relish the thought of having to go through that."

"I think we have to. Can I see the map?" Ivan asked. Isaac obliged, handing him the roll of paper. Ivan perused it in silence for a few moments, before nodding regretfully. "Yeah, it's directly in our path. It's the only way south from Fuchin Temple."

"Dammit! I don't want no creepy forest," Garet sighed.

"Well, I hate to say it, but it's either that or turn back," Isaac pointed out. "I'm not looking forward to it either."

"Fine, but if we have to enter another tree, I'm burning it the hell down," Garet joked.

"Hey guys, I think I can see the temple," Mia called from the front of the group, where she had moved while they were talking. Isaac rushed to catch up with her. Once he did, he cast his gaze forward, until he caught sight of a large waterfall falling from the mountains. Resting in the shadow of the waterfall, atop a raised cliff, was a small temple made of glossy, red colored wood. In addition to the wood, it possessed an odd blue roof that was curved at the edges, giving the building an exotic feel.

"That's the temple? I've never seen a building styled like that before," Isaac questioned.

"According to Master Hammet, all of the settlements in eastern Angara are built in this fashion. It's part of their culture," Ivan explained once he'd had a chance to see the temple as well. Isaac found that interesting. As they drew ever closer, he decided to take a closer look once they were there.

"That's so cool! I wonder if their food is any different," Garet remarked. Isaac shook his head knowingly. That would be the first thing that popped into Garet's head. Though now that he mentioned it, that was a good question.

"I guess we'll find out once we get there," Mia interjected, and then they fell silent, having nothing more to say on the subject.

* * *

When they approached the temple, a very surprised looking monk greeted them. The man was thin and shaved bald, and was garbed in red robes. "How did you get here? Is the bridge open again? Or…" the monk paused, taking a very audible gulp before continuing. "…did you come through the forest?"

Isaac noted how scared he looked when he mentioned a forest, so he assumed that the monk meant the evil forest south of the river. He grew even more worried about what awaited them in there. "We came over the bridge. Kolima is no longer blocking passage." Isaac answered the monk, who looked visibly relieved.

"Oh, that's good. We have several people from Kolima in here that haven't been able to return. I'll be glad to tell them it's safe now," the monk responded, sighing. "Now, how can we help you, travelers? My name is Fyorin."

Isaac took the man's proffered hand and smiled politely before replying. "We were just looking to restock our food supplies before we head further south."

"Wh...what? So…you plan to head through…Mogall Forest?" Fyorin gasped in horror.

"We can't go back, and it doesn't seem like there's any other way forward, so we don't have much of a choice," Isaac explained to the monk. Fyorin sighed, and then beckoned them towards the staircase that was cut into the cliff face.

"I suppose I can't dissuade you. Come with me. The least we can do is feed you and sell you some supplies," the monk told them.

"Seems like they really don't want us going in that forest," Garet remarked quietly to Isaac as they climbed the stairs behind Fyorin.

"I think that's mostly because they're looking out for our own safety. They don't know about psynergy, after all," Isaac answered in an equally quiet voice.

"Greetings, Brother Fyorin," another monk resting on the foyer called to them as they passed. Fyorin returned the greeting with a small nod, before continuing up the stairs.

"We have a small shop set up in the temple to restock supplies as well as a few rooms that we rent out, but mostly we spend our time meditating and striving for enlightenment," Fyorin explained to them.

"So who runs the place?" Garet panted, unused to climbing such steep stairs.

"Well, no one is technically in charge, but the oldest monk here is called Master Nyunpa. We generally defer to his wisdom on major decisions," the monk explained. "He's been in meditation for several days now."

Fyorin led them into the temple through a set of double doors. The first thing Isaac saw was a wide-open room, in which several other monks were sitting cross-legged in the center of the room, meditating. On the left side of the room, he could see monks training hard, sparring with one another with their fists or wooden swords. "The shop is through the door on the right. You can also rent access to one of the rooms from there if you would like."

"Thank your for your help, Fyorin," Mia said gratefully to the monk, who bowed his head politely and left through the front door, no doubt heading back to his post at the front of the village.

"We won't be here long. In fact, you guys could wait back down at the exit for me. I'm just going to grab some supplies," Isaac told his friends. Garet groaned and sat down against the wall.

"No thank you! I'm not going down those stairs again until I absolutely have to," Garet complained, pouting. Isaac raised an eyebrow, and then shook his head.

"Wow, I don't know how someone so strong could be so lazy," Isaac remarked.

"Seconded," Ivan added. "Don't worry Isaac, we'll just wait here until you're ready to go."

Isaac nodded and then entered the shop. Most importantly, they needed food. Secondly, they were running short on traveling herbs due to the minor injuries they picked up during travel or in battles with monsters.

The monk that ran the shop didn't say much, talking only when he needed to tell Isaac the amount of coins that he owed. That was fine with him. They didn't have that much time to waste if they were going to catch up with Saturos and Menardi.

Isaac paid the monk and left the store with their replenished supplies to find his friends waiting for him.

"Let's go, Isaac. Let's go kick that evil forest's ass!" Garet declared, grinning. "Hey, do you think anyone would care if I burned it to the ground?"

"Garet, do you _really _want to mess with trees? Remember what happened last time?" Ivan pointed out. Garet lost all of the color in his face at that, and he shook his head vigorously.

"Okay okay…not burning the forest down. I like trees, they are our friends…" Garet muttered to himself. "I don't wanna be a tree…"

Isaac led the group back out of the temple and down the stairs. As they left the temple behind and moved towards the Mogall Forest, he looked back over his shoulder. Fuchin Temple really wasn't much, but it was a home to the monks here. He guessed he would me making life easier for them here if they managed to find out what caused the evil forest to appear, and maybe even get rid of it entirely.

Of course, that all depended on what lay in wait for them inside.

* * *

So…much…Scottish. Ha, I rather enjoyed writing about Bilibin here. Yeah, I took quite a few liberties with the canon here. I never liked Lady McCoy, so when I realized, "Wait, this is my story. I can do whatever the hell I want!" I decided to get rid of her. Garet was just like, "Prepare to be struck by my fists of JUSTICE!" And then everyone partied. True story.

By the way, I did not forget the Waterfall cave, or the Force Psynergy. I just thought that it would be rather silly for them to randomly walk up to the old man and read his mind. That and I kinda wanted to include a scene in the forest to instill a bit of a horror feeling before they figure out what the hell to do.

And the scene in Kolima, I don't even know what I'm doing. I'm sort of just going with the flow when it comes to Garet, Ivan, and Mia, because none of them have any established pairings in the canon. I'm half tempted to pair Garet with Laurel for the lolz, and Ivan and Mia. Or Ivan and Laurel. Except that wouldn't make sense. NONE OF THESE PAIRINGS MAKE SENSE! Camelot…Y U NO ESTABLISH CANON PAIRINGS!

So consider the dance scene my way of testing the waters. Maybe they'll be good together, maybe they won't. I'd ask for opinions, but no one reads my crap. So, let's see if I had any reviews since last time. I know I had a PM from Mr. E Box asking if I was still alive.

OMNISENSE95: Aha, one of my signature reviewers here. I'm glad I could warm your heart with my Laurel and Tret fluff. If even one person tells me that they now like Laurel and Tret because of me, my mission will be complete. Anyhow, about the Gaia Blade. I may or may not turn that into a plot device. I'll probably just cross that bridge when I reach it. All I know is that it just made sense for Mia to get a new weapon that way. I still have to deal with the Arctic Blade next chapter.

Kinglumption: And here's another! I love how I can count on you guys. I hope you're not too mad at me for taking so long. Sorry about not putting in the lemon. I might put it in as a separate chapter if enough people ask…so pretty much don't expect it, because you three are the only ones that reliably read this.

Mr. E Box: Yes, I am alive, good sir. I'm glad you enjoyed the scene with Mia and Nereid. I know I was laughing like crazy when I was writing it, to the point where my roommate walked in and asked if I was high or something. Also, Ivan threw up because of what he saw in Isaac's mind. He's always been a bit of a prude, and what he saw was too much too fast, so his body rebelled. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. By the way, I hope you enjoyed what I did to Lady McCoy.

Mr. Martin: Here's a new reviewer. Well, I always enjoy seeing new reviewers. I think Mia is a bit scarred from that situation, as well as how close she was to getting seen by Garet and the others. Yes, it's safe to say that there will be a scene where she has to get over that. I doubt she'll summon Nereid ever again.

Anyhow, that's all for now. I'm out.

Keelah Se'lai,

The Proud Quarian,

Terran34


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